I can remember being at school when Clause 28 was introduced and a weary teacher saying they could probably be sacked for letting us understand the subtext of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.
The British North America Act of 1867, Canada's constitution, lodged authority for education in the provinces, at the same time guaranteeing denominational rights (in the "minority-school protective clause") if such rights existed by law at the time of entry into confederation.
The reforms set detailed instructions about learning grammar, including teaching the use of speech marks and possessive pronouns by the end of year 4 of primary school, relative clauses by the end of year 5 and the use of the subjunctive by the end of year 6.
While the laws remove the rights of most people affected by school-seizing, one clause says the secretary of state must "consult" with religious bodies before choosing new managers for their schools.
Several, including Dr. David Janda, a renowned orthopedic surgeon argue that they cannot practice under the new system and maintain the Hippocratic oath that every doctor takes upon graduating medical school, especially the clause, "and first, do no harm".
The new "affirmative consent" law in California includes a clause requiring schools to use the "preponderance of evidence" standard.Other states and colleges are likely to follow suit.
In a 2002 dissent in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, he argued that a voucher system established by the state of Ohio to subsidize the education of children, including some in parochial schools, violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, because, he wrote, the subsidy to religion invited "social conflict".
He was also the lone dissenter in McCollum v. Board of Education School District 71 (1948), in which the court ruled that religious instruction in public schools violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, even if different religions were involved and even if the parents gave their consent to the teaching.
According to Mr. Muraskin, holding the class at a public school violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
A new board member has also introduced a resolution to remove the word "diverse" from the busing policy and add a clause "promoting neighborhood schools with proximity to home consideration".
These concerns are reflected in the court's classic summation delivered in Everson v. Board of Education, its first opinion directly addressing standards governing aid to religious schools: "The 'establishment of religion' clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the federal government can set up a church.
