Victory in Arizona: School Kids Can Speak About Their Faith in Class

The ACLJ helped a mother and her elementary school daughter who was given an assignment to share her dream for the world—a dream that involves her relationship with God.

In January 2014, the ACLJ was contacted by a mother whose daughter is a third-grader in the Dysart Unified School District in Arizona. In honor of Martin Luther King Day, the daughter was assigned to write her dream for making the world a better place. The children’s dreams were then to be printed in a book to be sold to the students’ parents. The daughter wrote a draft of her dream, describing how God makes the world a better place, but was told by her teacher that she couldn’t share this dream because it was too religious. The mother, concerned about her daughter’s freedoms of speech and religion, contacted the ACLJ and received pertinent information concerning her daughter’s rights. Soon after receiving the information, the mother shared it with her daughter’s teacher, principal, and assistant principal. She requested that her daughter be allowed to write her project with the religious themes.

After receiving the information, the assistant principal informed the mother that her daughter would be allowed to submit her project as originally written. We are pleased that the school understands the rights of children and corrected the teacher’s erroneous decision.

The ACLJ continues to help students and their parents protect their speech and religious rights in school. This is yet another victory for religious freedom.