Equality in religious schools: The JFS case reconsidered

INTRODUCTION Education has become a battlefield on which different religious and nonreligious worldviews are fighting each other. One may discern two contexts in which these conflicts occur: that of public schools, which are intended to serve the general heterogeneous community, and that of parochial faith schools, which are meant to serve specific religious communities. In the former case, the challenge of the schools is to serve the general community and at the same time respect religious diversity in it. It is common wisdom that the key principle in addressing this challenge is neutrality. Public schools intended for the general community must remain neutral with respect to religion, enabling teachers and students from different religious backgrounds, as well as nonreligious ones, to study together freely and equally. Conflicts in this context arise when individuals feel that neutrality has been violated and their religious freedom infringed upon. In the latter context, the challenge of faith schools is to serve a specific religious community and at the same time respect general state norms. Faith schools are not committed to neutrality, but identified with a specific religion. State recognition of such schools is based on the right of individuals to religious freedom and on the right to education, which includes the right of parents to determine the kind of education they would like to grant their children. For religious communities, education is an essential vehicle to pass their heritage to future generations, cultivate their unique way of life, and maintain their identity. In this context, religious freedom is manifested in the right to be associated with religion. Imposing neutrality on faith schools would violate their right to religious freedom. Nevertheless, schools of this type must also comply with state norms, including equality and antidiscrimination laws. Conflicts in the context of faith schools arise when individuals, students, or teachers feel that they have been discriminated against on various grounds by school policy. In most cases, the school argues that the divergent treatment is the result of the religious policy of the school. When such conflicts reach the courts, a clash ensues between equality and the right to religious freedom. Judicial intervention protecting these individuals may undermine the religious freedom of the school, but abstaining from intervention may ignore individuals’ right to equality.