Examining Teachers' Attitudes About Religious Free Exercise in the Public School Classroom

• In Event: 16.060 - Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: 16.060-1 - Academic Inclusion or Exclusion? Examining Research on School Laws and Policies Affecting At-Risk Students

Abstract

Since the 1940s, first amendment case law routinely considers public school teachers agents of the state, constrained by this amendment’s establishment clause. Two recent court decisions, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Ogerbefell v. Hodges, highlight important changes to this precedent by utilizing Religious Freedom Restoration Act legislation for individuals, including public employees, to gain exemption from their professional duties if they deem laws to violate their ‘sincerely held religious beliefs.’ This paper presents results from a national survey of public school teachers’ attitudes regarding this new legal direction. We argue that should teachers gain such exemptions, particular harm could come to religious minorities, non-religious, and LGBTQ students as well as jeopardize the civic functions of the public school.

Authors

• Suzanne N. Rosenblith, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Benjamin J. Bindewald, Oklahoma State University

• Laura Olson, Clemson University

• Daniel Frost, Clemson University

• William McCorkle, Clemson University