My daughter's public school principal has put up Christian symbols and quotes and also invited a public speaker to present during an assembly who told students that God and prayer was the answer to their problems. Is there a government place where I can anonymously report this?
I don't want to complain directly as there could be retaliation.
Contact the local affiliate of the ACLU: Affiliates | American Civil Liberties Union. They have a long history of protecting schools and public institutions from religious influences. They will be able to determine the legality of the displays in the school and if the subject of the presentation by the speaker is legally problematic, and will know the correct approach to the school board and school district and their legal representatives.
See Religion and Public Schools | American Civil Liberties Union:
Dating back to the Bible Riots of the mid-1800s, the role of religion in public schools has been one of the most hotly disputed—and most frequently misunderstood—religious freedom issues in America. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has long made clear that the Constitution prohibits public school-sponsored prayer or religious indoctrination, violations remain rampant in many parts of the country.
The ACLU can protect your identity. Or, use a throwaway email from Yahoo or similar service, or use *67 to block caller ID when phoning.
If for some reason the ACLU finds little they can legally do, and if your local newspaper(s) or TV station(s) are not politically conservative, contact them and see if they want to cover the situation.
The ACLU is an excellent choice.
Let me also recommend the Freedom from Religion Foundation. They handle these outrages on a regular basis.
I would recommend contacting Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
If you check their website, you can see their mission:
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a nonpartisan educational and advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the separation of religion and government as the only way to ensure freedom of religion, including the right to believe or not believe, for all.
They deal specifically with the issues like yours:
We use high-impact litigation, powerful lobbying and grassroots advocacy to ensure that:
- Religion does not dictate public policy. The government does not tell Americans what to believe or how to practice their faith.
- Discrimination is not justified under the guise of religion.
There's a page on AU's wbsite for reporting violations of the Establishment Clause: https://www.au.org/get-involved/report-a-violation/form.
You can also get in touch with AU members who live near you: https://www.au.org/get-involved/chapters.
AU is not a government entity (as your question asks), however, they are very knowledgeable about the proper channels for such complaints, and about the nuances of the Establishment Clause of the first amendment.
