ADF letter affirms First Amendment freedoms of NC public school employees
ADF provides accurate guidelines to school districts, dispels claims of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Attorney sound bite: Matt Sharp
RALEIGH, N.C. – Alliance Defending Freedom sent North Carolina school districts a letter Tuesday correcting misleading information contained in a letter Americans United for Separation of Church and State recently sent to the same districts. The AU letter urged them to disregard a new state law protecting the freedom of school employees to participate in student-led religious expression outside of school hours.“Teachers and other public school employees do not leave their constitutionally protected freedoms at the schoolhouse gate,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “There’s no legitimate basis for schools to prohibit their employees from engaging in expression outside of school hours or from showing respect for students’ religious expression while at school. The Americans United letter is simply inaccurate and reflects their agenda of cleansing all things religious from the public square.”
As the ADF letter explains, “Courts have repeatedly held that a school’s faculty and staff have certain constitutional rights to engage and participate in religious expression before and after their contracted work times without violating the Establishment Clause.”
“Given the importance of keeping students safe and maintaining order during any school activities involving students, it is often necessary for school staff to be present even when student religious expression occurs…,” the letter continues. “But under such circumstances, nothing forbids teachers from respecting student-initiated, student-led prayer by bowing their heads.”
“The Constitution is the only permission slip public employees need to exercise these kinds of freedoms – and here, North Carolina has backed up these rights with state law,” added ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “We are encouraging the school districts of North Carolina not to cave to AU’s unwarranted demands.”
The North Carolina Family Policy Council and North Carolina Values Coalition also signed the ADF letter.
- Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS'-koh)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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ABOUT Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF's team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life. Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on the importance of protecting free speech and religious liberty in federal law. Sharp also authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion. Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.