School Prayer in the Curriculum: Case Law

Case law regarding school prayer provides direction for understanding the constitutional boundaries of both staff- and student-initiated religious speech. Under most circumstances, prayer as part of the school curriculum is illegal. Several legal challenges to prayer in schools have helped define the role of prayer in public school curricular and extracurricular settings. School officials may allow private prayer by providing a moment of silence as a structured feature of the school day. Moments of silence provisions, however, have met with mixed success when challenged in court. As the study of curriculum history shows, the evolution of public schooling from teaching religious-based literacy to a comprehensive curriculum was challenged in classrooms and courthouses. The role of prayer in the curriculum continues to be a source of contention.

The idea of separation of church and state guides school prayer case law. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” A three-part test established in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) was used by the courts in deciding school-based Establishment Clause cases for a quarter century, although its influence is considerably weaker under the current Supreme Court. The Lemon Test asks three questions. First, does the state's action have a secular purpose? Second, is the primary effect of the state's action either to advance or inhibit religion? Finally, does the state's action create an excessive entanglement between religion and government? To pass the Lemon Test, the state must show that it can answer yes to the secular purpose question and no to the primary effect and entanglement questions.

Religious speech and study may be part of the public school curriculum if it has a secular purpose and does not have the intent or effect of inculcating religious belief or practice. Lessons on comparative religion, religious imagery in art, or biblical symbolism in literature are common examples of how religion may be introduced in the formal curriculum while still passing the Lemon Test. Even the use of Christian hymns in school choir has been upheld because they historically represent such an important element of choir music. However, case law shows that the courts have consistently ruled against school-sponsored prayer in the curriculum.

Prayer at graduation and extracurricular events is, like prayer introduced during the traditional school day, unconstitutional. In Lee v. Weisman (1992), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that although both attending the graduation ceremony and standing to pray at the ceremony were voluntary, there is injury to students who feel compelled to make the choice to abstain from the prayer or not attend their graduation. Social conventions, the Court argued, must be considered when considering the practical implications of not participating in state-sponsored prayer. The opinion of the Court affirms, “The Constitution forbids the State to exact religious conformity from a student as the price of attending her own high school graduation.” Moreover, the environment of the graduation ceremony is “directly analogous to the classroom setting” when considering the risk of compulsion.

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