THE GOOD NEWS IS THE BAD NEWS IS WRONG

Teacher Fights for Right to Teach Religion After School (Jeff Goldblatt, June 09, 2003, Fox News)

It's been two years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious clubs must have the same access to public school facilities as non-religious clubs.

But that ruling hasn't helped Barbara Wigg, who has filed a federal lawsuit against a South Dakota school district, charging her constitutional rights are being violated by not being allowed to lead an after-school religious club on school property - off the clock.

"I want to teach this and I don't know why I can't," Wigg said.

Wigg is an elementary school teacher of 19 years and currently teaches second and third grade at Laura B. Anderson Elementary School in the Sioux Falls (search) school district.

She is certified by the Missouri-based Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to teach their Good News Clubs after-school Christian classes.

These ministries take place in neighborhood settings such as homes, backyards, schools and community centers and are designed to teach children ages five through 12 about the gospel and moral and character development. They are not school sponsored but often use school facilities.

According to CEF, as of August 2002, roughly one-third - 1,346 of the 4,759 such clubs - operated on public school grounds. As of April 2003, nearly 120,000 people participated in these groups nationwide. Good News Clubs Operate in five Sioux Falls elementary schools and meet for an hour once a week.

But the school district says it would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution to permit Wigg, or any of its teachers, to lead the classes.

Allowing that, the district argues, would give the impression that the school system favors a particular religion, since the teacher would be evangelizing on school property.

To begin with, the district's argument--that allowing a teacher to conduct the club creates an impression that the district itself favors a particular religion--is sheer nonsense. But, even if true, that would not be barred by the Constitution as it in no wise rises to the level of a prohibited establishment of religion. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 11, 2003 10:45 PM