Separtion of Church and State Essay - 1246 Words

The Constitution of the United States was written to give citizens certain privileges and rights in the way of free thought and freedom. The Establishment Clause was one way that civilians were protecting religious liberty by the separation of church and state. Within our political and school systems there have been a number of controversial issues to include religious holidays, school prayer, teaching evolution and aid to church based schools. The Supreme Court has ruled in many cases in regards to these religious controversial issues. The First Amendment states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the†¦show more content†¦The â€Å"wall of separation† that maintains between state and church in the Constitution was viewed and the Blacks questioned the state’s interest in expeditiously and safely getting the kids to the schools needed. In the end it was ruled to get the kids to school safely. Often in parochial schools parents are given vouchers to help pay for private schools. Some say this is an issue regarding the Establishment clause. In 1973 Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, â€Å"the high court invalidated a New York state program that provided tuition reimbursements to poor parents whose children attended private schools, 85% of which were religious† (Leaming, n.d.). The courts ruled that New York had a primary effect of advancing re ligion. Since Nyquist the voucher programs are one step closer to being recognized as constitutional through the Supreme Court. The Constitution permits vouchers to be available for both religious and private schools through the government. School vouchers also raised arguments from opponents and proponents. Opponents raised concern that talented students were pulled from public schools which lowered their quality of learning while the proponents claimed their children would receive a much better education. In 1962 Engel Et Al v. Vitale Et Al case were Prayer in the Public schools was a violation of the First Amendment’s