VIEWPOINT | Counterpoint: Public schools are not Sunday schools

Column by Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager

Religious freedom is one of our country’s most treasured liberties. Every individual and family — not politicians or the government — gets to decide for themselves what religious beliefs, if any, they adopt and practice.

This constitutional protection is strongest in our public schools, which serve children and families of many religious backgrounds. As the U.S. Supreme Court has observed, “families entrust public schools with the education of their children, but condition their trust on the understanding that the classroom will not purposely be used to advance religious views that may conflict with the private beliefs of the student and his or her family.”

Unfortunately, the government sometimes strays from these ideals. We’re seeing that in South Dakota with Senate Bill 51, legislation that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public-school classrooms. This measure blatantly violates the First Amendment’s promise of religious freedom.

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