September 21, 2007 3:12 PM
Sacred music in public schools - yes, you can!
One of the joys of moving away from northern California was getting away from that oppressive atmosphere where excellence in education was sacrificed for so many political reasons - including the censorship of anything smacking of Christianity in the public schools.
How I love Loudoun County schools, which have managed to uphold high educational standards without bowing to the small band of zealots seeking - in the name of the separation of church and state (nowhere to be found in the Constitution) - to eradicate a rich part of our heritage from every area of the curriculum.
With so many Curtis kids into music, we have enjoyed dozens of musical performances in the past five years where music was chosen by teachers simply on the basis of excellence in composition. I was grateful to live in a state with that kind of freedom.
(And btw, isn't it odd that the same people who want to censor "religious" music in public schools are the fiercest defenders of Internet porn - howling at the mention of filters in the public libraries?)
Anyway, last spring, we attended a music program that was notable for its lack of sacred music - producing a somewhat lackluster, uninspiring, and not-so-memorable show. Upon digging, I found out that the complaint of one parent - out of a school of 1000 - had evoked a new litmus test.
What every citizen needs to know is that it is NOT illegal for choruses to do selections of sacred music in public schools. In fact, it is actually illegal to subject music programs to this kind of censorship.
Because i've researched and written on this topic before, I determined to do something about this, but it remained on the back burner until a couple weeks ago when I attended a Back-to-School night and was reminded that parents need to be vigilant to maintain the tradition of diversity and excellence in our public schools.
I'd spent a couple hours in walking through the gleaming, pristine corridors giving silent thanks for the wealth of resources and the incredibly well-qualified and enthusiastic teachers with which my children are blessed. I was so grateful to live in a state where resources are well-spent and education is a priority. In that spirit of gratitude, as I was leaving, I stopped to thank the principal.
In front of me was an unhappy looking guy complaining that in one classroom he had seen something he thought might be promoting religion. He spent 15 minutes reminding the principal of the "separation of church and state" - obviously concerned that his child would be somehow contaminated by seeing a reference to religion in her public school.
I mean, had this guy ever read Shakespeare or Steinbeck? Has he ever walked through an art gallery? What planet is he from? How can you eliminate all references to the Bible and teach any kind of comprehensive literature, history, or fine arts course? And what is wrong with a parent who can spend a couple hours in a school with the best resources and personnal money can buy and come away bitter from focusing on one religious reference? Where's the balance? Where's the gratitude? Where's the famous liberal tolerance?
Where's the daughter? Gotta remember to pray for her. Remember Madalyn Murray O'Hare - the famous atheist responsible for eliminating prayer from public schools? Her son became a Christian. There's always hope!
And hope energizes me. Back home I moved my pro bono project from the back burner, writing a letter and emailing it to every principal, music teacher, and school board member in Loudoun County (over 200 in all) thanking them for all they do and reminding them of the references which underscore teachers' freedom to teach to excellence without fear of reprisals.
All are welcome to use my letter (which you can click on Continue Reading to see) as a template for your own local public schools (if you live outside Virginia, just drop the reference to the Virginia guidelines).
As the holiday wars approach, I will also do a roundup of organizations which defend the liberties of schools, teachers, and students - for the sake of anyone caught in the crosshairs.
September 14, 2007
To: LCPS principals, music teachers, and School Board members
From: a grateful parent concerned with preserving the musical heritage of LCPS
Dear Educators:
As far as public schools go, I probably have more experience than your average parent. With 12 kids ranging in age from 7 to 38 (okay, so I’m not a medical marvel – my last three are adopted), I’ve had experience with public schools spanning two generations.
My oldest daughters went straight through public schools, but the deteriorating state of education in California led me to homeschool some of my children some of the last 12 years we lived there – though most years at least a couple were still in public school.
When we moved to Virginia in 2002, I was so impressed by the quality of education here that I enrolled all nine of my still-school-age kids in Loudoun County Public Schools. This year I have six kids remaining in five different schools. I attend Back-to-School nights in a spirit of gratitude for the superior facilities, personnel, and educational opportunities my children enjoy simply because we live in Loudoun County, VA.
Because my children are very involved in the arts, we have attended countless drama and music performances – not only their own, but those of friends in other schools. Every year, my kids have been fortunate to have participated in All-County Chorus.
In this area particularly, our family has been especially grateful that our children – some of whom are already pursuing professional music careers in musical theater and opera – have had the finest quality musical experience a parent could wish. Because of her excellent training and musical opportunities, my daughter Maddy is a proud recipient of the Malone Foundation Award.
One of the reasons this has been possible is because Virginia has not gone the route of many schools in California by arbitrarily banning sacred or “religious” music. Virginia seems to have maintained the correct and legal perspective on musical diversity, allowing music teachers to continue to select music based on the quality of composition and educational value.
Unfortunately, last spring for the first time I saw some erosion in this freedom at one school, where because of complaints to the administration by a single parent, the musical selections had obviously been subjected to a litmus test of whether they would offend a statistically insignificant but loud minority of parents intent on eradicating any references to religion from public schools.
Needless to say, the result of a school music program subjected to this kind of filter can be very bland and uninspired – always a missed opportunity when a teacher has to settle for inferior music selections because challenging material is offensive to one or two parents in a school of 1000 students.
This kind of censorship has a chilling effect on the educational experience.
This chill – no matter how irrational or illegal – can quickly become the norm of a county or a state, as witness California 2000 where at my son’s small rural school, the winter program’s offerings include four Hanukkah songs, one Kwaanza song, a generic humanist song about being nice to each other, and assorted “Christmas” songs about Santa and reindeer and rooftops.
As a parent who appreciates the excellence of the music education LCPS students enjoy, I feel a responsibility to involve myself in this debate. For this reason, I have researched and am sending the following information to every music teacher and school principal in Loudoun County.
You may be already familiar with this information, in which case I hope you will not feel patronized. This is simply a reminder of the legal and aesthetic principles governing music in public schools.
Perhaps these links will be helpful in answering the small fraction of parents who under the rubric of “wall of separation” (nowhere to be found in our Constitution), push for freedom from religion rather than freedom of religion. I will be writing more on this issue at my blog and in my newspaper column.
Please know that if you are ever under fire and need legal research or backing, I can be a resource for information and a link to legal organizations dedicated to defending our constitutional freedoms
Following are a few basic resources:
The American Choral Directors Association, “whose central purpose is to promote excellence in choral music through performance, composition, publication, research, and teaching. . . [and] to elevate choral music's position in American society” in 1993 issued the following policy statement:
The Study of Music from a Sacred Tradition in the Public Schools, which includes the following points:I. GOAL
To improve music education by assisting educators and the community in identifying ways of studying, creating, and performing music from a wide variety of religious/cultural traditions.IV. CONSIDERATIONS FOR SELECTION OF REPERTOIRE
A. Select repertoire for its musical and educational values.
B. Show sensitivity to the traditions of different people and their cultures.
C. Neither promote nor inhibit religious views.
D. Observe all local and school policies.
E. Develop a community awareness of various religious beliefs.
F. Show a diversity of programming over a period of one school year, if not longer.
G. Document all performances by printing and saving copies of concert programs(read entire statement here)
Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools – published by the First Amendment Center
Religious Expression in Public Schools – the definitive 1998 (updated from 1995) statement by Secretary of Education Richard Riley which begins:
"...Schools do more than train children's minds. They also help to nurture their souls by reinforcing the values they learn at home and in their communities. I believe that one of the best ways we can help out schools to do this is by supporting students' rights to voluntarily practice their religious beliefs, including prayer in schools.... For more than 200 years, the First Amendment has protected our religious freedom and allowed many faiths to flourish in our homes, in our work place and in our schools. Clearly understood and sensibly applied, it works." President Clinton May 30, 1998
Guidelines Concerning Religious Activity in the Public Schools, Virginia State Board of Education
Again, I hope you understand that I have taken the liberty of compiling this information and writing to you personally because I so respect and admire the work you are doing in the arts – and I want to do anything I can to ensure the preservation of the freedom enjoyed my LCPS music teachers to choose THE BEST music available to challenge our children and broaden their horizons.
In conclusion, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for the marvelous job you are doing in keeping the arts alive and strong in Loudoun County Public Schools
A grateful parent,
Barbara Curtis
www.barbaracurtis.com
www.mommylife.net
Posted in Loudoun County, Music, Public schools | Permalink
Comments
You rock. That is all. :)
Posted by: Michelle Potter | September 22, 2007 7:38 PM
GREAT letter! A good example in general of how to politely address such an issue.
Posted by: Becky Miller | September 22, 2007 7:59 PM
Barbara,
let me ask you this (yes, because it is easier than researching myself since I think you'll know the answer)...
we are doing a fund raiser at school where the children draw a picture and we send them off to become professionally made cards. i mentioned to the art teacher that they will come in right around Christmas so maybe she would suggest drawing something Christmas related. i figured it left things open since I didn't say Christ but she said she could never do that because then she would have to touch on all the holidays. My question is why couldn't she mention all the religions and examples of each instead of going into a whole lesson on what they are. I think she's going overboard. what do you think?
thanks.
Posted by: janet | September 23, 2007 10:09 PM
