Liberty Counsel Helps Open Doors for Christian Clubs in Public Schools
by Allie Martin
November 15, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Student-led Christian clubs have recently been approved in four U.S. school districts after the clubs at first faced resistance from school administrators. A spokesman for the pro-family, public interest law firm Liberty Counsel says the legal organization is working with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to clear the way for that ministry's after-school Good News Clubs in public schools nationwide.Two school districts in Utah, one in North Carolina, and another in Minnesota have agreed to allow Good News Clubs to use school facilities for the clubs' after-school meetings. In all cases, district officials initially rejected requests from students to form the clubs; however, attorney and Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver says more school districts are realizing that Christian clubs have rights.
Mat Staver | |
"Since 2001, when the Good News Club [v. Milford Central School] was decided at the Supreme Court, there's been a lot more openness by the schools to allow Good News Clubs," Staver points out. "In fact, the law is crystal clear," he asserts, "that public elementary schools that allow any other after-school secular program on campus are not able to discriminate against Good News Clubs just because of their Christian viewpoint."In Good News Club v. Milford Central School, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas, that the school's restriction against the Good News Club violated the club's free-speech rights and that "no Establishment Clause concern justifies that violation."
According to the high court's ruling in 2001, when Milford Central School officials denied the Christian club access to the school's limited public forum on the ground that the club was religious in nature, it discriminated against the club because of its religious viewpoint in violation of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
In the recent cases of school districts that initially denied the Good News Club use of their facilities, Liberty Counsel intervened to help resolve the conflicts by informing district officials of the law regarding the Christian clubs' rights. In Lone Peak and Forbes, Utah, after being stonewalled and rejected, the Good News Clubs finally received permission to use the schools' facilities on Wednesday of last week.
In Naytahwaush, Minnesota, CEF has tried to start clubs at several schools but for a long time met opposition from the Indian reservation there. Liberty Counsel got involved and helped CEF secure approval for a Good News Club at the Naytahwaush Community Charter School. Now, the legal organization reports, local CEF leaders are excited about the new club and the growth of the local chapter.
And in Orange County, North Carolina, after the law firm issued a written demand to reverse a decision forbidding public school teachers from leading Good News Clubs, the Orange County school district agreed to no longer restrict any employee's private-speech rights. Teachers are now allowed to lead the clubs on their own time, including after-school.
Good News Clubs are designed to develop character and teach positive values to children from ages 5 to 12, using songs, games, prayer time, Bible stories, and scripture memorization, Staver notes. "This was met with resistance, however, until we intervened, sent the letter, and gave information," he says, "and now the doors that were once shut are open."
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
