Rob Sherman Advocacy   
       Click on either picture for larger image and picture description.

"Fighting injustice, one victory at a time."

State / Church Separation

Sherman and Lawyer Lay Down the Law to
Public School Ministerial Association on
Keeping State and Church Separate

Friday, February 18, 2005

      A resident of School District 300, located thirty-five miles northwest of Chicago near Elgin, Illinois, contacted Rob Sherman Advocacy earlier this month to express concern about schools Superintendent Dr. Kenneth M. Arndt forming a school district ministerial association.  The question was:  What possible purpose could a school district have in forming such a group?  Was the purpose of the association to assist the children with their secular education, or was Dr. Arndt looking for a way to proselytize to a captive audience?

      A meeting of the school district ministerial association was scheduled for yesterday, February 17th.  Instead of meeting at a school district facility, such as the district administration building, the meeting was scheduled to be conducted at a local church.

      I telephoned Dr. Arndt last week in behalf of the resident who had contacted me and I asked for permission to attend the meeting of this public school-affiliated group.  He got back to me promptly and said that I would be welcome to attend.  He also stated that the theme of the meeting was keeping state and church separate in the public school setting, and that a presentation would be made by a highly-regarded attorney whose practice includes representing school district clients.  I accepted his invitation to attend.

      At the meeting, Darcy L. Kriha, an attorney with the downtown Chicago law firm of Franczek Sullivan, presented a brilliant and thorough overview on the subject at hand.  Here is a copy of Darcy's presentation outline, Separation of Church/State Doctrine in the Public School Setting, reprinted with permission.

      Darcy opened the floor to discussion after her presentation.  Darcy and I responded to questions from the ministerial association members.  Darcy explained the requirements of the law.  I provided additional commentary regarding practical ways in which ministerial association members could participate with the schools while abiding by those requirements, such as by helping with tutoring without engaging in religious advocacy, and why those legal requirements are so important to state/church separationists.  More on that in this fine article in today's Elgin Courier/News entitled Atheist advocate sits down with new D300 ministerial council ( back-up link ).

      Everybody at the meeting was gracious and cordial to me.  My presence at their meeting was intended to help the members of the ministerial association learn how they could participate in the public schools without violating the wall of separation between state and church.  However, my presence was also intended to let them know that an eye would be kept on the way in which they interact with both the schools and the students to ensure that everything would be kept Kosher.  (I thought you'd like that choice of words for this situation.)

         Rob Sherman          

P. O. Box 7410
Buffalo Grove, IL  60089-7410

A post office box is used because
the street address uses a curb mail box,
which is not secure.

Telephone:  (847) 870-0700

Fax:  (847) 870-1156

E-mail:  rob followed by the at symbol followed by robsherman dot com