Religious Release Time under Attack at Tennessee Public School
While elementary students in Knoxville, Tennessee, can legally opt for Bible study time during their school days, complaints have recently arisen regarding this practice. Critics should recall that The Supreme Court of the United States approved and even commended this tradition in Zorach v. Clauson. Learn more at FirstLiberty.org/Briefing.
Is it possible for public school students to go to a church or synagogue to receive religious education during the school day? In fact, yes it is.
Release time education is one such example. Instruction provided by release time education is not and cannot be provided by the school, and no school support or participation of any kind is allowed—including transportation. No student is required to participate, and no student can participate without specific parental consent and it cannot be held on school property.
In Tennessee, for example, students from Sterchi Elementary School are released during the school day to travel to the Church at Sterchi Hills. There, some 70 students spend about an hour of time receiving a Bible lesson.
Some will raise complaints about the religious instruction received during release time, but those are entirely unfounded. The Supreme Court of the United States approved the idea almost 70 years ago in a case called Zorach v. Clauson. The Justices recognized that “[w]e are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being” and went on to not only uphold release time programs as perfectly lawful, but further explained that “[w]hen the State encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it then follows the best of our traditions.”
So according to the Supreme Court, Bible release time is not merely lawful — it exemplifies what it means to be an American.
To learn how First Liberty is protecting religious liberty for all Americans, visit FirstLiberty.org.