Released Time
Encyclopedia
Released Time is a concept used in the United States public school
system wherein pupils enrolled in the public schools are permitted by law to receive religious instruction. The principle is based on the constitutional
right of parents to direct the religious education of their children.
, an educator and superintendent of the school establishment of Gary, Indiana
, in 1914. In the first years of Wirt's implementation, over 600 students participated in off-campus religious education.
Most released time programs were held off school property, and the public school system had no involvement in the religious programs taught off school property.
The released time program began to grow rapidly. In 1922 released time programs were active in 23 states. Approximately 40,000 students from 200 school districts were enrolled in such programs. In 1932, thirty states had active released time programs in 400 communities with enrollment of 250,000 students. In 1942, participation reached 1.5 million students in 46 states. Released time reached its peak enrollment totals in 1947 when 2 million students were enrolled in some 2,200 communities. During this period, legislation paving the way for released time programs had been adopted by 12 states.
brought legal action
against the Champaign, Illinois
public school district. McCollum, who did not profess religious beliefs, was the mother of a student in the district. McCollum's suit stated that her eight-year-old son had been coerced and ostracized by school officials because his family had chosen to not participate in the district's in-school religious instruction program. The Champaign district's religious instruction was held during regular school hours in the classrooms in Champaign's public schools, and was taught by members of a local religious association with the approval of school officials.
McCollum's suit argued that religious instruction held during regular school hours on public school property constituted an establishment of religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and violated the Equal Protection Clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment
.
The state district court ruled against McCollum, as did the Illinois Supreme Court upon appeal. However, in 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of McCollum, reversing the lower courts' decision. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=333&invol=203. The high court ruled that the Champaign program was unconstitutional since it used the state's compulsory education system to aid in the teaching of religious doctrine, and because tax-supported school buildings were being used.
In the aftermath of the McCollum decision
, the number of released time classes dropped by 12 percent across the nation. http://www.bestnetwork.org/history.htm
came before the Supreme Court. The case involved the education law of New York State, particularly a regulation by which a public school was permitted to release students during school hours for religious instruction or devotional exercises. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the high court upheld the New York law.
In the majority opinion, Justice William O. Douglas
wrote that New York's program "involves neither religious instruction in public schools nor the expenditure of public funds", unlike the earlier McCollum case that the Zorach plaintiffs had cited as precedent.
Douglas wrote that a public school "may not coerce anyone to attend church, to observe a religious holiday, or to take religious instruction. But it can close its doors or suspend its operations as to those who want to repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction. No more than that is undertaken here."
The Court's opinion stated that
, released time programs allow students a daily class period which may be used for extracurricular religious studies.
A multi-denominational Christian organization that supports Released Time Bible Education across the country is School Ministries, Inc. (SMI). It was created in 1990 to act as an association that assists local communities in the creation of Released Time Bible Education and to provide support for existing programs. Although initially envisioned to have a South Carolina focus, SMI soon was undertaking a national role in responding to RTBE interests, addressing legal challenges, raising national visibility and addressing research needs. Since 2003, SMI has experienced an annual growth rate of 10% in students served. (See School Ministries, Inc. http://www.schoolministries.org)
One notable large group taking released time for religious instruction are LDS students. Most LDS students in ninth through twelfth grade attend weekday religious classes called Seminary. In the Western United States, such as in Idaho and Utah, it is common to find an LDS seminary building within close walking distance of public high schools, sometimes directly adjacent. In such situations the LDS students will take one class period off from the public school as released time. The large numbers taking released time means the seminary has up to six or seven periods corresponding to the public school class periods.
New York City also participates in Released time. Many organizations take advantage, notably, the Jewish Education Program and the Jewish Released Time
Program of Greater New York
Supporters of released time programs interpret the various court cases as permitting these programs, provided several guidelines are met. These conditions are
Education in the United States
Education in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory.Public education is universally available...
system wherein pupils enrolled in the public schools are permitted by law to receive religious instruction. The principle is based on the constitutional
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
right of parents to direct the religious education of their children.
Early history
The original idea of released time in the United States was first discussed in 1905 at a school conference in New York City. The proposal was that public elementary schools should be closed one day a week in addition to Sunday so that parents who so desired could have their children receive religious instruction off the school premises. This idea was later implemented by Dr. William WirtWilliam Albert Wirt (educationalist)
William Albert Wirt was a superintendent of schools in Gary, Indiana. Wirt developed the Gary Plan for the more efficient use of school facilities, a reform of the Progressive Movement that was widely adopted in other cities....
, an educator and superintendent of the school establishment of Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city is in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago. The population is 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. It borders Lake Michigan and is known...
, in 1914. In the first years of Wirt's implementation, over 600 students participated in off-campus religious education.
Most released time programs were held off school property, and the public school system had no involvement in the religious programs taught off school property.
The released time program began to grow rapidly. In 1922 released time programs were active in 23 states. Approximately 40,000 students from 200 school districts were enrolled in such programs. In 1932, thirty states had active released time programs in 400 communities with enrollment of 250,000 students. In 1942, participation reached 1.5 million students in 46 states. Released time reached its peak enrollment totals in 1947 when 2 million students were enrolled in some 2,200 communities. During this period, legislation paving the way for released time programs had been adopted by 12 states.
McCollum v. Board of Education
In 1945 Vashti McCollumVashti McCollum
Vashti Cromwell McCollum was the plaintiff in a landmark 1948 Supreme Court case that struck down religious education in the public schools. The defendant in the McCollum case was the school district of Champaign, Illinois, wherein instructors chosen by three religious faiths had taught classes...
brought legal action
McCollum v. Board of Education
McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 , was a landmark 1948 United States Supreme Court case related to the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction...
against the Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
public school district. McCollum, who did not profess religious beliefs, was the mother of a student in the district. McCollum's suit stated that her eight-year-old son had been coerced and ostracized by school officials because his family had chosen to not participate in the district's in-school religious instruction program. The Champaign district's religious instruction was held during regular school hours in the classrooms in Champaign's public schools, and was taught by members of a local religious association with the approval of school officials.
McCollum's suit argued that religious instruction held during regular school hours on public school property constituted an establishment of religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and violated the Equal Protection Clause
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"...
of the Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
.
The state district court ruled against McCollum, as did the Illinois Supreme Court upon appeal. However, in 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of McCollum, reversing the lower courts' decision. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=333&invol=203. The high court ruled that the Champaign program was unconstitutional since it used the state's compulsory education system to aid in the teaching of religious doctrine, and because tax-supported school buildings were being used.
In the aftermath of the McCollum decision
McCollum v. Board of Education
McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 , was a landmark 1948 United States Supreme Court case related to the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction...
, the number of released time classes dropped by 12 percent across the nation. http://www.bestnetwork.org/history.htm
Zorach v. Clauson
In 1952, the case of Zorach v. ClausonZorach v. Clauson
Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States considered a New York law that permitted schools to allow some students to leave school during school hours for purposes of religious instruction or practice while requiring others to stay in school...
came before the Supreme Court. The case involved the education law of New York State, particularly a regulation by which a public school was permitted to release students during school hours for religious instruction or devotional exercises. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the high court upheld the New York law.
In the majority opinion, Justice William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
wrote that New York's program "involves neither religious instruction in public schools nor the expenditure of public funds", unlike the earlier McCollum case that the Zorach plaintiffs had cited as precedent.
Douglas wrote that a public school "may not coerce anyone to attend church, to observe a religious holiday, or to take religious instruction. But it can close its doors or suspend its operations as to those who want to repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction. No more than that is undertaken here."
The Court's opinion stated that
- In the McCollum case the classrooms were used for religious instruction and the force of the public school was used to promote that instruction. Here, as we have said, the public schools do no more than accommodate their schedules to a program of outside religious instruction. We follow the McCollum case. But we cannot expand it to cover the present released time program unless separation of Church and State means that public institutions can make no adjustments of their schedules to accommodate the religious needs of the people. We cannot read into the Bill of Rights such a philosophy of hostility to religion.http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=343&invol=306
Today
There are approximately 1,000 released time programs in operation today, ranging from kindergarten to high school, with 250,000 students enrolled. In some areas, including most public school districts in the state of UtahUtah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, released time programs allow students a daily class period which may be used for extracurricular religious studies.
A multi-denominational Christian organization that supports Released Time Bible Education across the country is School Ministries, Inc. (SMI). It was created in 1990 to act as an association that assists local communities in the creation of Released Time Bible Education and to provide support for existing programs. Although initially envisioned to have a South Carolina focus, SMI soon was undertaking a national role in responding to RTBE interests, addressing legal challenges, raising national visibility and addressing research needs. Since 2003, SMI has experienced an annual growth rate of 10% in students served. (See School Ministries, Inc. http://www.schoolministries.org)
One notable large group taking released time for religious instruction are LDS students. Most LDS students in ninth through twelfth grade attend weekday religious classes called Seminary. In the Western United States, such as in Idaho and Utah, it is common to find an LDS seminary building within close walking distance of public high schools, sometimes directly adjacent. In such situations the LDS students will take one class period off from the public school as released time. The large numbers taking released time means the seminary has up to six or seven periods corresponding to the public school class periods.
New York City also participates in Released time. Many organizations take advantage, notably, the Jewish Education Program and the Jewish Released Time
Jewish Released Time
Jewish Released Time, also known as Sheloh , is an organization promoting released time for the Jewish education of Jewish children learning in public schools.-History:...
Program of Greater New York
Supporters of released time programs interpret the various court cases as permitting these programs, provided several guidelines are met. These conditions are
- Classes must not be held on public school property,
- Religious instruction may not be financed by public funds,
- Students must have parental permission to be released from public school for the purpose of attending religious instruction.
See also
- McCollum v. Board of EducationMcCollum v. Board of EducationMcCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 , was a landmark 1948 United States Supreme Court case related to the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction...
- Separation of church and stateSeparation of church and stateThe concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
- Vashti McCollumVashti McCollumVashti Cromwell McCollum was the plaintiff in a landmark 1948 Supreme Court case that struck down religious education in the public schools. The defendant in the McCollum case was the school district of Champaign, Illinois, wherein instructors chosen by three religious faiths had taught classes...
- Zorach v. ClausonZorach v. ClausonZorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States considered a New York law that permitted schools to allow some students to leave school during school hours for purposes of religious instruction or practice while requiring others to stay in school...