I have really enjoyed high school. I am very fortunate in that my school truly provided the perfect environment for me to thrive and succeed. Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy is located in rural North Carolina. The surrounding area is severely poverty stricken, and the public school system does not foster too many success stories. My school, however, provides a quality of education comparable to that of a parochial school with no price. The name “charter school’ gets us dirty looks from those in the county who believe that we are stealing funding that rightfully belongs to the non-charter public schools. I never let that shake my pride in TJCA, however. I love our uniforms, our dedicated teachers, and I even love our obsession with the trivium.

One thing that has begun to stand out to me, however, is my school's relationship with religion. We begin every morning with a moment of silent prayer, and many faculty members, including the Headmaster, seem more than comfortable sharing their religious beliefs with the students. At our graduation ceremony every year, a prayer is said by a prominent member of the community.

This open endorsement of religion, and more specifically Christianity, has always made me uncomfortable. I consider religion and education to be in separate realms, but it seems that the administration feels they go hand in hand. It was not until I took a government and politics course that I realized these practices were illegal.

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution explains that the government must not “respect an establishment of religion.” The courts have defined this to mean that government involvement is constitutional if it has a strictly secular purpose, its primary effect neither advances nor inhibits religion, and it does not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion. It would then follow that publicly funded high schools, including Thomas Jefferson, would be required to adhere to the Establishment Clause. TJCA’s relationship with religion is even checked on the state level; under North Carolina G.S 115C-238.29F, a charter school “shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies …” The law goes further to state that a charter school “shall not be affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or a religious institution.” In order to gain a degree in education leadership and policy, I am sure one must fully understand this legislation and the penalties for not adhering to it. But for some reason, my school continues to endorse the practice of religion.

I have decided to try to change this within my final months of high school. I intend to address the school board at an upcoming meeting and explain to them the inappropriateness and illegality of prayer in a publicly funded educational institution such as ours. Specifically, I will ask for a prayer not to be said at our graduation ceremonies from now on. In a 1992 Supreme Court case, Lee v. Weisman, the Court struck down policies of inviting members of the clergy to deliver invocations and benedictions at graduation ceremonies as a violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause. The high court ruled that prayer at public school graduations are an impermissible establishment of religion. This decision was further defined in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000), in which the Supreme Court declared that student-led, student-initiated prayer at school events violates the Establishment Clause. Saying a prayer during the graduation ceremony of a publicly funded educational institution is clearly a violation of the constitution, so why does this continue to happen?

After sharing my plans to address the board on this matter with my parents, they reacted in a way I would not have expected. I asked for them to attend the meeting with me to support me, but they showed no interest in doing so. My mother explained to me that she felt people “have a right to not pray if they do not want to.” My father took a more polar stance, telling me that I knew the culture of TJCA when I went there, and that I should switch schools if I don’t like it. My parents failed to understand the illegality of a federally funded institution such as my school violating the Establishment Clause. Since an explanation of the law failed to convince them, I tried helping them step into the shoes of my non-Christian friends. I explained to them that it is unfair for my Muslim friend’s parent’s tax dollars to go to an institution that proselytizes Christianity relentlessly. However, it seems it will take more than reason to convince my parents for now.

Hopefully, the school board will understand that prayer at our graduation ceremonies is unconstitutional. I am very

grateful for the opportunities Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy has given me, and I truly believe in its mission to create thoughtful, articulate young adults. That being said, something must be done to restore the secular nature of TJCA. It would be a shame to see our federal funding cut severely, or even worse, our charter revoked.