Purpose
The Religion and Public Education Resource Center provides general
information about the ethical, legal, and educational issues that
arise in connection with the topic of religion and public education.
The work of the RPERC is based on the conviction that the academic
study of the world's religions in public elementary and secondary
schools not only makes an indispensable contribution to historical
and cultural literacy, it is also an integral part of education
for citizenship in a pluralistic democracy. The Center is non-partisan
and serves the needs of schools throughout the United States.
Background
| Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
Religious Liberty Clauses, |
The Religion and Public Education Resource Center seeks to foster a greater understanding of the First Amendment principles that set the ethical, legal, and pedagogical framework for thinking about the topic of religion and public education. Foremost among these principles is the distinction between school-sponsored practice of religion on the one hand, and the academic study of religion on the other hand.
Most Americans are aware that the courts have found public school sponsorship of religious practices to be inconsistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. But many people are not aware that teaching about religion in the public schools is perfectly consistent with constitutional principles. Indeed, as Justice Tom Clark wrote in Abington School District v. Schempp (1963): " . . . it might well be said that one's education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization."
The Religion and Public Education Resource Center was established in 1995 by the Department of Religious Studies at California State University, Chico, in collaboration with the Butte County Office of Education, Oroville, California. The RPERC is the home of materials that were formerly housed at the National Council on Religion and Public Education Distribution Center (Indiana University, Pennsylvania), and it seeks to be a catalyst for the development and distribution of new materials.
Resources
For classroom teachers, the Religion and Public Education Resource Center offers curriculum guides and sample lessons in several subject areas. For administrators, school board members, members of the legal profession and interested members of the public, the Center provides brochures, background statements, bibliographies of resources, and reprints of pertinent articles. The Center also lists resources available for purchase from other organizations and agencies and maintains this website with links to other on-line resources.
The Religion and Public
Education Resource Center
Director: Bruce Grelle
Phone:
(530) 898-4739
Email: bgrelle@csuchico.edu