AJC: Bar Religious Worship Services at Public Schools
February 25, 2008 - New York - The American Jewish Committee today filed an amicus brief with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that public school districts should not be compelled to convert schools into churches on Sundays.
"Public schools are places where children of all faiths and of no faith should feel comfortable," said Jeffrey Sinensky, AJC's General Counsel. "To achieve that important goal, schools must avoid activities that associate them in the minds of schoolchildren and their parents as synonymous with places of worship."
The case, Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York, is a challenge to the City policy prohibiting religious congregations from holding worship services on public school premises. A panel of the appellate court deadlocked in the fall of 2006 on the question of whether the policy is constitutional and the court is now considering the case again.
AJC argues in its brief, as it did in 2006, that school districts should not be compelled to subsidize the religious activities of houses of worship with taxpayer dollars.
Moreover, since schools are in regular educational use on Fridays and Saturdays, the "de facto unavailability of schools for use by non-Christian religious groups" results in the unconstitutional association of the schools with Christianity, states the brief.
Ari M. Gordon Assistant Director Department of Interreligious Affairs American Jewish Committee 165 E56th St. New York, NY 10022 (212) 891-6768 (212) 751-4000 x266 www.ajc.org www.engagingamerica.org