Changes

Different schools take a range of approaches to school prayer. Some schools strongly encourage prayer by including prayer in compulsory daily assemblies, whilst others outlaw any religious observance.  There is a range of approaches lying between these two.

Different schools take a range of approaches to school prayer. Some schools strongly encourage prayer by including prayer in compulsory daily assemblies, whilst others outlaw any religious observance.  There is a range of approaches lying between these two.

Prayer was encouraged, allowed and practiced in U.S. public schools from colonial times until 1962, when the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in ''[[Engel v. Vitale]] ''banned '''school prayer''' without citing a single decision as a precedent for its ruling.

Prayer was encouraged, allowed and practiced in U.S. public schools from colonial times until 1962, when the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in ''[[Engel v. Vitale]] ''banned '''school prayer''' citing the First Amendment's prohibition on the government establishment of one religion over another as a precedent for its ruling.

[[Atheistic]] groups herald this as a great victory for their ideology, as since 1962 U.S. taxpayers have been compelled to fund and support an atheistic culture for the 90% of [[American]] students who attend [[public school]].  Supporters of the decision claim that there is a "separation of church and state" in the [[U.S. Constitution]], though no such phrase or prohibition exists in the document.

[[Atheistic]] groups herald this as a great victory for their ideology, as since 1962 U.S. taxpayers have been compelled to fund and support an atheistic culture for the 90% of [[American]] students who attend [[public school]].  Supporters of the decision claim that there is a "separation of church and state" in the [[U.S. Constitution]], though no such phrase or prohibition exists in the document.