McCollum v. Board of Education

The Champaign County Board of Education in 1945 authorized a program in which outside religious teachers hired by private third parties provided weekly religious instruction in public schools. The 30-40 minute classes were not mandatory, however Vashti McCollum, a mother in Champaign, Illinois on behalf of her son, Jim described how he was punished by teachers and teased by students for not taking part in religious instruction that she felt was illegally taught in his public school. McCollum, an atheist, complained that her son was ostracized for not attending the classes.

By a 8-1 vote, the majority held that the program had violated the Establishment Clause. The Court reasoned that the use of tax-supported property for religious instruction and the close cooperation between the school authorities and the religious council violated the constitutionally-required separation of church and state. Justice Black stated because pupils were required to attend school and were released in part from this legal duty if they attended the religious classes, the Court found that the Champaign system was "beyond question an utilization of the tax-established and tax-supported public school system to aid religious groups and to spread the faith."