Few U.S. adults support allowing religious schools to become tax-funded public charter schools, but a majority favors allowing religious chaplains to provide support services for public school students, a new poll finds.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows the complexity of Americans’ attitudes toward religious expression in schools, which varies depending on the kind of expression and sometimes crosses partisan lines.
The findings also highlight tension points in the country’s long-standing debate over the role of religion in public schools, which continues to drive legislation and legal action. Recent examples include a lawsuit against a new Arkansas measure that requires the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, a push by lawmakers in multiple states to allow religious chaplains to serve in student support roles in public schools, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 decision that blocked plans for a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma.
Read more at AP News.
