Federal funds tied to prayer in schools

Usually, when you read the words "government intervention," "schools" and "prayer" in the same sentence, you can bet that prayer in schools is about to take another hit.

Sometimes, however, the government gets it right.

The Education Department recently said that schools that don't allow students to pray outside the classroom or prohibit teachers from holding religious meetings among themselves could lose federal funding.

Good. Too often, people who oppose prayer in school forget that many people actually want to pray. While their children should never be forced to pray, the schools should show neither favoritism toward nor hostility against religious expression.

Freedom of religion does indeed include freedom from religion. But those students and teachers who wish to pray outside the classroom have a constitutional right to do so. With a threatened pinch of the purse, the government has taken a good step toward allowing them to do that.