Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Battle Hymn of the Public Schools

Oh, Lord. New Haven Public School students are singing praise to God.

If God isn't allowed in science class, is God allowed in music class? At New Haven's Worthington Hooker School, the answer is yes.

Enrique Rosado, the father of a seven-year-old girl, is upset that his daughter is singing songs like "God is My Father," "There Must Be a God," and "God is Everywhere" in music class. Rosado says he's asked the music teacher, the school's principal and Superintendent Dr. Reggie Mayo to secularize the school's music curriculum, to no avail.

After more than a year of complaining in private, Rosado went public and stood up at the Board of Education's last meeting of the school year.

Religion is a touchy subject, and the Board of Education members and audience were set off by Rosado's simple point: He's uncomfortable with his daughter singing about God. His complaint sparked snotty "yeah rights" from audience members, and board members were unsympathetic, to say the least.

Religion is pervasive in our society, argued Mayor John DeStefano at the meeting. "I don't think our job is to promote one religion, but in America religion has always been a part of civic life." For DeStefano, the question is one of intent vs. content.

"As an adult, I understand your point," says Rosado, "but think of it from a 5- or 6-year-old's perspective. I ask her to listen to and respect her teachers." But that creates conflict, Rosado says, when his daughter learns God is her father.

If Rosado is un-teaching his daughter about God, does he also un-teach her about stone soup or Paul Bunyan?, scoffed board member Richard Abbatiello. "This is a religious argument with you, isn't it?" he barked. "If she doesn't want to read Jack and the Beanstalk, does the English teacher have to change the curriculum?"

Rosado tried to explain the difference between his views on religion and fiction, but Abbatiello cut him off: "You came here with a personal ax to grind, and I've heard you," he boomed into the microphone. Abbatiello closed with a snide, "Thank you, sir," effectively dismissing Rosado and ending the conversation.

The BOE says it's OK to teach kids songs about God because the music curriculum is broad, and not exclusively religious.

"This is not about inhibiting or advancing religion," says Will Clark, New Haven schools' chief operating officer. That's the court's test—if teaching about religion in schools either endorses or coerces religion, then it's not allowed. "I think we've passed that test. He [Rosado] has been offered other outlets—art, etc.—if he decides he doesn't want her to participate."

Some of the songs are curriculum-related: When students study the slave trade in history, they sing songs from that era, says Clark. The state's music curriculum requires that students learn to sing expressively, on pitch, in rhythm and in groups. Teachers decide which songs to use in teaching those skills.

Curriculum and song lists specific to Worthington Hooker's music program were unavailable at press time. NHPS music director Regina Warner says, "We teach all kinds of music. It's not necessarily religious, but it may be sacred."

Another Worthington Hooker parent, who requested anonymity, says she's also uncomfortable with her daughter's second-grade music class. "They're songs we sang as kids in Catholic school, but we're not sending her to Catholic school."

Like Rosado, this mother doesn't want to take her daughter out of class—she enjoys music. She doesn't want to make a big deal out of her objection, but, she says, "It's weird to make them sing praising God."

Hooker students in grades three to eight do sing about world religions for the school's Revels program, a culturally diverse celebration of the winter solstice.

Christopher Beeley, Yale Divinity School professor and a parent of three children at the school, feels Revels is "appropriately diverse, almost to a fault—diverse in the politically correct sense."
Christine Bartlett-Josie, a past PTA president at Hooker agrees, "We've had parents who've objected to Revels, for whatever reason. But it's everything—it's Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukah, the solstice, Chinese New Year."

The second graders haven't yet participated in Revels.

"A public school should not be promoting religion," says Dan Barker, co-president of Freedom from Religion, a national organization. The songs Rosado is complaining about are non-denominational, but don't take atheists or agnostics into account, he says. (Rosado wouldn't divulge his personal religious beliefs.) "We can also recommend some atheistic songs for the children to sing, to test their claim that the religious content is irrelevant," Barker says.
Rosado says he asked the school to change the song lyrics—substitute "music" for "God" in "God is Everywhere," for example—but the response was no.

Hallelujah?

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