U.S. Department of Education Updates About Moment of Silence

By COLive reporter

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona released an updated ruling on a Moment of Silence in a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter to Chief State School Officers, School District and School Leaders on May 15, 2023. It lists guidance for “Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Schools.”

The letter states that students may pray when not engaged in school activities or instruction, subject to the same rules designed to prevent material disruption of the educational program that are applied to other privately initiated expressive activities. Students also may read from religious materials; say a prayer or blessing before meals; and engage in worship or study religious materials with fellow students during non-instructional time (such as recess or the lunch hour) to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious activities.

Although school authorities may impose rules of order and pedagogical restrictions on student activities, they may not discriminate against student prayer or religious perspectives in applying such rules and restrictions.

It also states that students may organize prayer groups and religious clubs to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other noncurricular student activity groups. Such groups must be given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is given to other noncurricular groups, without discrimination because of the groups’ religious character or perspective. School officials should neither encourage nor discourage participation in student-run activities based upon the activities’ religious character or perspective.

VIDEO: Why We Need A Moment Of Silence In Schools
In multiple televised addresses, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, urgently called for a daily “Moment of Silence” in U.S. public schools, where most American children receive their education. The Rebbe articulated his position with great urgency, all but warning that if the current path of education continues without incorporating a Moment of Silence, calamity is bound to come.

The U.S. Department of Education last issued such guidance on January 16, 2020, and the Merkos Chinuch – Education Office at Lubavitch Headquarters – 770 Eastern Parkway in New York commended the updated information.

“Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal and state courts have considered the scope of First Amendment protections and addressed their application in schools,” Merkos Chinuch Office said in a statement.

“Therefore, it is important that school districts, schools, and the public have an accurate understanding of the current state of law and the scope of public schools’ authority to regulate the way in which school employees may engage in religious expression in the presence of the students under their care,” they wrote.

Prior guidance discussed how constitutional principles apply in various educational contexts, such as accommodation of prayer during instructional and non-instructional time, prayer at graduation, moments of silence, the gathering of religious student groups for prayer, and the rights and responsibilities of teachers and other school staff. The updated guidance retains much of that discussion, because the state of the law has not changed materially in many of those contexts.

Read the Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools