release time education

ICCTE Biennial ConferenceAzusa Pacific University

An Examination of Released Time Education Programs and U.S. Public Schools

James A. SwezeyLiberty University

Released Time Bible Education Programs and U.S. Public Schools

Released Time Education (RTE) is a general name given to programs that afford parents

the opportunity to grant their children permission to leave the local public school

campus during regular school hours in order to receive religious instruction.


• A few states even allow students to receive academic credit.

• Typically established by private, religiously-affiliated organizations.

• A variety of religious traditions are represented including Protestant, Catholic, Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Jewish, Muslims, and Hindus (Giess & Moore, 2009).


Released Time Bible Education (RTBE) is a name commonly ascribed to programs established by evangelical Christian organizations.•Bible presented from a sectarian perspective•Gospel message presented•Children proselytized openly


According to Baer and Carper (2000), “A released-time model honestly accepts the fact that we are a religiously diverse society and that trying to teach religion/spirituality (or even about religion/spirituality) to all students in common classes will inevitably lead to distortion and indoctrination” (p. 613).


• RTBE programs remain largely unknown • Programs are concentrated in the South and

Midwest, but also exist along the West and East Coasts


Dierenfield (1973) examined a national sample of school districts (N = 830), and discovered approximately 33% of school superintendents reported release time programs in their districts. Dierenfield in reported similar studies reported 26% of schools in 1966 and 30% in 1960.


Depending upon what programs are counted, and from what religious traditions, RTE enrollment numbers range from 250,000 (Johnson, 2002) to 600,000 (Osgood, 1999; Vinson, 2005). The most widely publicized claims regarding RTBE enrollment are that there are over 1,000 programs serving 250,000 students across the United States.

Historical Foundations

First discussed in 1905 at a school conference in New York City. Earliest RTE program is credited to the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints in 1912 (Strader, 2009).Evangelicals claim it was operationalized in 1914 under the leadership of Dr. William Wirt (1874-1938).


LDS commitment dates back to its founder, Joseph Smith, in 1832 (Strader, 2009). By 1890, most schools in LDS communities were state-run and eliminated religious instruction. The LDS Church began its first RTE program by “erecting a small building across from Granite High School in South Salt Lake City, and established it as the first LDS seminary” (Strader, 2009, p. 15) .


2012 LDS records report 122,782 students worldwide enrolled in released-time seminaries (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2006, p. 2).

The LDS operate the most centralized, unified form of RTE.


In 1922 RTE programs were active in 23 states, serving 40,000 students from 200 school districts.

By 1932, 30 states had programs in 400 communities with 250,000 students.


In 1942 participation reached 1.5 million students in 46 States.

Released Time peaked in 1947 with 2 million students enrolled in 2,200 communities.

Legal Foundations

According to Hodge and Cuddeback (2010), •7 states generally required state cooperation upon request•17 recognized RTE but didn’t require cooperation•Remaining 26 states had no specific statutes related to RTE

Legal Foundations

Some of the key court cases include •Lanner v. Himmer (1981)•H.S. v. Huntington County Community School Corporation (2009)•C.S. v. Fort Wayne Community Schools (2010)•Moss v. Spartanburg (2011)

Legal FoundationsMcCollum v. Board of Education (1948)

• In 1940 Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant faiths established Champaign Council on Religious Education

• Offered classes students in grades four to nine• Parental permission required• Once a week classes ran from 30-45 minutes


• Taught by Protestant teachers, Catholic priests, and Jewish rabbis

• Reports of presence or absence were to be made to their secular teachers


Justice Black delivered the Court’s 8-1 majority opinion finding in favor of McCollum. The Court warned, “The extent that aspects of these programs are open to Constitutional objection, the more extensively the movement operates, the more ominous the breaches in the wall of separation” (¶ 225).


The Court ruled that “religious education so conducted on school time and property is patently woven into the working scheme of the school. The Champaign arrangement thus presents powerful elements of inherent pressure by the school system in the interest of religious sects” (¶ 228).


Justice Black further wrote, “The children belonging to these non-participating sects will thus have inculcated in them a feeling of separatism when the school should be the training ground for habits of community” (¶ 228).


Justice Reed attacked the Court’s majority on several fronts. “From the holding and the language of the opinions, I can only deduce that religious instruction of public school children during school hours is prohibited. The history of American education is against such an interpretation of the First Amendment” (¶ 241).

Legal FoundationsZorach v. Clauson (1952)

In its 6-3 decision, the Court found that programs Constitutional.•Established off-campus•Operating with parental consent•Not supported in any manner by the taxpayer funds


Plaintiffs argued, “The weight and influence of the school is put behind a program for religious instruction; public school teachers police it, keeping tab on students who are released; the classroom activities come to a halt while the students who are released for religious instruction are on leave; the school is a crutch on which the churches are leaning for support in their religious training; without the cooperation of the schools this “released time” program, like the one in the McCollum case, would be futile and ineffective.” (¶ 310)


The Court found case differed from McCollum:•No religious instruction in public school classrooms•No expenditure of public funds•No coercion to encourage or pressure students


The Court found, “the present record indeed tells us that the school authorities are neutral in this regard and do no more than release students whose parents so request” (¶ 311).


Justice Black dissented vehemently:“I see no significant difference between the invalid Illinois system and that of New York here sustained. Except for the use of the school buildings in Illinois, there is no difference between the systems which I consider even worthy of mention” (¶ 316).


Justice Frankfurter reasoned, “The unwillingness of the promoters of this movement to dispense with such use of the public schools betrays a surprising want of confidence in the inherent power of the various faiths to draw children to outside sectarian classes—an attitude that hardly reflects the faith of the greatest religious spirits” (¶ 323).

DiscussionMcCollum and Zorach

“In McCollum, students participated in (1) state-approved religious exercises (2) in school (3) upon parental consent, but in Zorach, students participated in (1) purely private religious exercises (2) off campus (3) upon parental request” (McWilliams, (2002, ¶ 9, original italics).

Discussion

Release-time programs will generally be upheld:•No punishing absentees from the released time programs with truancy sanctions •School authorities remain neutral•Do not coerce attendance•Do not bring instruction into the public school(Lofaso, 2009)

Discussion

Release-time programs will generally be upheld:•Avoid the use of public funds•Cannot operate on school grounds •Avoid being promoted, endorsed, or otherwise favored by the public school and its faculty (Vinson, 2005)•Parental permission

Discussion

Lithwick (2005) posited several criticisms:1)Students who didn’t attend classes were ostracized, 2)Classes subtract from classroom time3)Discriminate against those who aren't Christians4)Promote an evangelical, denominational, or sectarian viewpoint.

Discussion

Pfeffer (1948) surmised four chief dangers: 1)Introduces religious differences within the public schools and is therefore divisive and is a threat to separation of Church and State2)It exerts unfair pressure on students to enroll religious classes

Discussion

3) Jewish children are tempted to attend Christian classes to avoid disclosing their Jewish faith

4) Religious instruction is often accepted as a satisfactory substitute for real religious instruction even though the amount imparted under released time is negligible.

Conclusion

Baer and Carper (2000) wrote, “Today, evangelical Christians and traditional Catholics constitute a problem for liberal education, for they refuse to see the Gospel as just one religious truth among many” (p. 601).

Conclusion

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).