From the U.S. Supreme Court to local school boards, religious liberties organizations such as the American Center for Law and Justice and the Rutherford Institute have waged a battle on behalf of Christian students and their right to practice and share faith on campus.
There have been important victories, such as the ACLJ’s landmark triumph before the nation’s highest court in 1990’s Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens. That decision cleared the way for America’s public school students to lead and initiate Bible and prayer clubs. In 2001, the Rutherford Institute won when the Supreme Court found that Milford (New York) Central School had violated the Good News Club’s free speech rights by refusing to allow the private evangelical Christian program for children to meet on campus after hours.
But while such courtroom fights make the headlines, both groups say students and parents face day-to-day struggles trying to inform local educators about the right to religious expression on school grounds.