Top school officials should affirm rights of students of all faiths

By J. Brent Walker and C. Welton Gaddy

Reflections
April 16, 2003

The recent uproar over remarks by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige highlight the necessity for top education leaders to understand and applaud the religious diversity of students attending our public schools. The fracas, which included calls for Secretary Paige to apologize or resign, arose after Baptist Press reported that he called for Christian values to have a place in the nation's educational enterprise.

"All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian Community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith," Paige was quoted in the story transmitted by Baptist Press, news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

While a spokesman for the secretary initially vouched for the accuracy of the quotes, the next day the secretary's aides distributed what they said was a partial transcript in which Paige was shown to have responded to a question about whether Christian, public or private universities offer "the best deal."

Paige answered: "That's a judgment, too, that would vary because each of them have real strong points and some of them have vulnerabilities, but you know, all things being equal, I'd prefer to have a child in a school where there's a strong appreciation for values, the kind of values that I think are associated with the Christian communities."

As Baptist ministers who have served local congregations, we understand and applaud the important role that the Christian faith has played in Secretary Paige's life. However, as defenders of religious liberty and supporters of our nation's system of public education, we believe it is vitally important for Secretary Paige and other top education officials to show more awareness of the role of religious diversity.

To his credit, Secretary Paige later said he supported the separation of church and state and that he was simply stating a personal opinion about religious colleges and universities. And, Baptist Press appears to have twisted his remarks to suit its own polemical purposes.

Nevertheless, it is critical for Secretary Paige clearly to affirm that public schools belong to all citizens regardless of their faith perspectives, religious affiliations, or the absence of both. They have the difficult task of equipping children from all sectors of society for citizenship and transmitting to them our civic values — those core values that contribute to the common good. These values — because of their rich diversity, not in spite of it — offer educational institutions an opportunity to teach about and promote respect for differing cultures, nationalities and religions.

Whether it is White House support for private school vouchers or Secretary Paige's interview reported in Baptist Press, the administration's commitment to the constitutional guarantee of religious liberty for all is called into question. We have a right to expect that those charged with improving our public education system will articulate an unambiguous interest in providing the best resources possible for all of America's children, regardless of their religious affiliations.

The goal of our nation's public schools is education, not indoctrination. We serve our children best when we help to shape character in a way that appreciates an increasingly diverse society, not when we treat them as a captive audience convened for the transmission of one particular set of religious beliefs. We wholeheartedly agree that public schools should accommodate the religious rights of students. But, as the administration's own guidelines for educators indicate, that accommodation must be made without disrupting the learning process or interfering with the rights of others.

We strongly encourage Secretary Paige, as the leader of our nation's public school system, to work to ensure that all children of all faiths — or those of no faith at all — feel welcomed and affirmed in our public schools. Our children and the future of our nation deserve no less.

J. Brent Walker is executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee and C. Welton Gaddy is president of the Interfaith Alliance.