A federal judge has ordered AmeriCorps to stop giving grants to teachers who teach religion, lead students in prayer or attend religious services with students during the school day.
The order Thursday by Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia affects 565 AmeriCorps teachers serving in parochial schools. AmeriCorps provides public funding for 75,000 teachers and community workers nationwide.
The order says AmeriCorps can continue sending teachers into parochial schools if it satisfies the court that it has set up monitoring to ensure that they do not engage in "government indoctrination" in religion.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs AmeriCorps, is expected to appeal. It requires teachers to certify that none of the 1,700 annual hours paid for by the government are spent in religious activity, and it contends that it should not restrict what teachers do with students the rest of the time.
The lawsuit was brought by the American Jewish Congress.
-- Alan Cooperman
