
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 11, 1990                   TAG: 9006110196
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BOTETOURT BIBLE CLASSES: CLARIFICATION

I TEACH in the weekday religious-education program in Botetourt County. I would like to respond to the editorial May 22, "Church and state in county schools," and clarify a few matters.

1. Enrollment cards for Bible classes are not distributed by the public school teachers. They are mailed to the parents.

2. The editor assumes that the "astonishing" high percentage of enrollment is due to pressure on the students to attend classes. But could it be that the percentage of Bible students more nearly reflects the percentage of parents who want the program?

Parents have the right to a say in the education of their children, and they have the backing of the U.S. Supreme Court. In the Oregon School Case in 1925, the court declared, "The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this union repose excluded any general power of the state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public school teachers only."

3. When religious classes are conducted during school hours off school property, they are not illegal or unconstitutional. Schools may release children upon written request of parents for religious instruction. This principle of "released time" was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Zorak Case in New York state in 1952.

NANCY J. YOUNG\ BLUE RIDGE

by CNB