Written by Don Byrd
The NY State Senate yesterday passed a bill assuring religious groups including churches access to school buildings during non-instructional time. The legislation would supersede New York City’s ban on the use of schools for religious worship, which courts recently upheld as constitutional. It sounds like Senators struggled with the question of equal access:
“I think the way the Senate is taking it up, it’s seriously flawed,” said the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, Democrat of Manhattan. “It would open up the schools to anybody. It might include the Ku Klux Klan. If you’re going to do anything, you’re going to have to make the city make a determination as to what’s an appropriate use of the schools.”
In a spirited exchange with Senator John J. Flanagan, a Long Island Republican who is a sponsor of the bill, Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat of Manhattan, questioned whether the bill violated the separation of church and state. Mr. Flanagan said the bill dealt with free-speech issues.
