Does God Belong in Public Schools

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Controversial Supreme Court decisions have barred organized school prayer, but neither the Court nor public policy exclude religion from schools altogether. Tracing the historical development of religion within public schools and considering every major Supreme Court case, this book looks at the role that religion ought to play in public schools.

Reviews

"Greenawalt tackles one of the truly intractable problems encountered in applying the Constitution to public life... [He] is refreshingly free of dogmatism. His judgments and conclusions are carefully drawn and nuanced, and he demonstrates how small changes in the facts can produce very different constitutional outcomes. This book will make you think clearly--and show you how."--Publishers Weekly "Greenawalt provides a good jumping-off point, with just enough legal specifics, for further debate on a loaded issue: how to deal with God in public schools."--Kathryn Jean Lopez, New York Post "This is a useful book for anyone wanting to understand the intersection of religion, public education, and constitutional law in the United States... [It] rises to the highest standard one could expect of legal writing on public policy matters. Greenawalt does a good job leading anyone unfamiliar with the issues through a complicated legal, practical, educational, moral, and political thicket."--Thomas F. Powers, Law and Politics Book Review "Teachers, school administrators, and parents will find as much of interest and practical benefit as will scholars in fields such as teacher education, education administration, and school law."--Library Journal "[A]ccessible yet detailed."--Christian Reflection "Greenawalt will strike most readers as a fair-minded moderate... [He] concludes there should be God in the public schools, but only as something to ponder and discuss--never to worship."--David Ruenzel, Teacher Magazine

Author Bio

Kent Greenawalt is University Professor teaching at the Columbia University School of Law, and a former Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He is the author of "Religious Convictions and Political Choice, Private Consciences and Public Reasons", "Fighting Words" (Princeton), and "Religion and the Constitution: Volume 1: Free Exercise and Fairness" (also Princeton).