Abstract
This article identifies historical and contemporary influences of religion in US public schooling. It provides analytical questions that social justice leaders can use to evaluate the practices embedded in their own schools, including an equity audit.
Notes
Notes
1. For a helpful distinction between good leadership and social justice leadership, see table 10.1 in CitationTheoharis' (2009) The School Leaders Our Children Deserve. For example, a good leader “acts as a positive ambassador for the school,” and a social justice leader “builds a climate in which families, staff, and students belong and feel welcome” (p. 160).
2. When asked by both evangelical Protestants and by Catholics what he meant by “good Christians,” Mann carefully never replied, except to say, in effect, “Not Mormons.” See CitationMann (1855, Citation1872). Mann himself was Unitarian.
Table 1 Religion/Nonreligion Data and Analysis
3. A recent Phi Delta Kappan article by CitationPurinton and Gunther (2011) echoed this question—“Whose Holiday”—and identified guiding principles. Those principles are to “maintain instructional integrity, establish instructional professionalism, adapt to community concerns, stay within the budget and base decisions on data, and live inclusive values” (pp. 35–37).
4. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion …”
5. The Free Exercise Clause continues the Establishment clause: “… or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
6. General guides include CitationLester (2011) and CitationNord (2010). Subject-specific guides include CitationDouglass (2000) and CitationNord and Haynes (1998).