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History of Released Time The idea of Released Time in the United States was first discussed in 1905 at a Sunday School Conference in New York City. The proposal was that public elementary schools should be closed one day a week in addition to Sunday in order for parents, if they so desired, to have their children given religious instruction outside of the school building.
However, it was not until Dr. William Wirt, an innovative educator and superintendent of the Gary, Indiana schools established a program in 1914 in which 619 students participated in off-campus religious education. Dr. Wirt believed that the church, home, playground, library, and school were all components in a child's education. The Released Time programs were held on church property. The public school had no responsibility for teachers, curriculum, conduct, or achievement within the Released Time classes. Released Time grew and flourished. In 1922, for example, Released Time programs were active in 23 states. 40,000 students from 200 school districts were participating. By 1932, thirty states had active Released Time programs in 400 communities with enrollment of 250,000 students. Ten years later, in 1942, participation reached 1.5 million students in 46 States. Released Time peaked in 1947 with 2 million students enrolled in 2,200 communities. During this time, favorable Released Time legislation was adopted by 12 states. However, despite the fact that school officials were urged not to allow religious education classes on school property, this caution was not heeded. By 1947 over 40% of all Released Time classes were held in public school classrooms. In 1945, Vashti McCollum, an atheist, brought legal action against the Illinois Board of Education. She argued that religious instruction held during regular school hours on public school property constituted an establishment of a religion. The Supreme Court of Illinois voted against McCollum and the United States Supreme Court reversed that decision in 1948. The Illinois Released Time program was held to be unconstitutional because it used the state compulsory education system to aid in the teaching of religious doctrine and because tax supported school buildings were being used. Six denominations passed resolutions in support of Released Time after the McCollum decision. In the aftermath of the McCollum decision the number of Released Time programs dropped by twelve percent across the nation. |
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