Tench Tilghman School Holds Pre-Test Prayer Service (VIDEO)

One Baltimore public school has pulled out all the stops when it comes to shooting for good test scores: It's turned to divine intervention.

Dozens of students and parents met Saturday inside Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School to pray for students to do well on state tests, reports local CBS station WJZ.

As directed by principal Jael Yon, students received a flier with Bible verses and images of hands clasped in prayer.

David Rocah, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, says the school violated the separation of church and state.

"Not only are they unconstitutional for very good reasons, but they are divisive. They send a message of exclusion to people who are not of the particular faith or of any faith at all," Rocah said.

School officials say prayer can be a strong support system, but they realize it's inappropriate to promote a particular religion.

WATCH:

Comments

[webmonkeydc]

12:01 PM on 03/19/2011

Wow, ACLU, a school have a prayer service on a Saturday is really hampering people's rights. Give me a break. Way to go, Tench Tilghman! http://www.richardtgarner.com/2011/03/stand-with-me-in-support-of-tench.html

[Sam Salinitis]

02:53 PM on 03/17/2011

it is so bad in Maryland that they need to pray for better grades....

[ChaCubed]

02:59 PM on 03/16/2011

Did they sacrifice a virgin, too?

[MagicalPossibilities]

01:20 AM on 03/24/2011

All the virgins have been sacrificed already...

[Left Hook]

12:58 PM on 03/16/2011

Prayin' for good grades? Are these people nut? Maybe they should have had a Saturday meeting on how to STUDY for better grades rather than pray to gawd-Santa for better ones! Scheesh - No wonder this country's educationals system is in the toilet...

Remeber the truism...When you want to trick yourself into thinkin' you're doin' something then pray - It useless but it feeds the delusion...

[hagagaga]

11:57 AM on 03/16/2011

This is illegal. Religion isn't necessarily a bad thing, but should be kept out of government agencies like public education.

[carmenalex]

10:30 AM on 03/16/2011

Naw...why study? I'll just pray myself an A.....and if I fail...it's the teachers fault.

[Allthosewhowander]

10:26 AM on 03/16/2011

"Jesus, Allah, Buddha, I love you all." Homer Simpson

Sad times are here friends. When a school pray for something ans superficial as test scores, there is something seriously wrong. Once testing is over, kids retain nothing from the test format, or protocol. There is no authentic learning or teaching involved with these standardized tests, so in my case, after 2/3 of a year worth of teaching to the test, based on my administration's agenda, I am starting from scratch. Hopefully I will be able to use the remaining 1/3 of the school year to teach kids that there is more to their academic experience than just testing. My goal is that they will leave my class with a love for learning, and a hunger to find their own identity among the beauracracy that controls what they do in their public school lives.

Too bad this school isn't praying for wisdom, reasoning, and problem solving skills. I guess those things really aren't important anymore in schools. Just test scores, stress, and fear.

[sawyer0413]

09:53 AM on 03/16/2011

This is grounds for immediate termination. That a school administrator would even think that it is appropriate to do such a thing shows a distinct lack of judgment on their part. This principal is not qualified, at this point in their career, to be a principal.

Furthermore, can you imagine the protests if there was an Imam, a Brahman, or a priest with a confessional, set up in that same place? Can you imagine what the students will feel when the pass/fail rates are different (and they will be) for those who attended vs. those who didn't? It brings a whole theological argument to the issue that should be there. And, if the students who prayed have better results, it could set back studying. Why study when you can just pray your way to better score. ARGH!

[ninetailedfox]

08:51 AM on 03/16/2011

I used to work for a school. There are several reasons why education is failing. too many tests, too much empasis on computer literacy and not real literacy. There is a huge list I made, but i cant seem to find it anymore.

[MagicalPossibilities]

01:21 AM on 03/24/2011

They don't want to teach kids to think - thinkers make bad slaves.

[Kevin Zielke]

07:28 AM on 03/16/2011

i could just imagine the sermon; "dear lord, please allow these students to do well on this test by gracing them with some of your wisdom. Except that wiccan kid and the muslim in room 32A, they're heretics and don't deserve it."
I've got an idea of something better they can do with this time before the test. STUDY!

[milfytime]

10:54 PM on 03/15/2011

This is dangerous territory. So when they get good grades, can they take credit for putting in hard work or was it just Gods will? Are the kids who get bad grades perceived as being punished by God for something? Will it actually have the opposite effect by implying that their academic performance is out of their hands and so making them see studying as a waste of time? What do you say to them when they ask why God doesn't care about all those people who died in the tsunami but he cares about my grades?

Please, religion has no place in public school. Teach accountability, cause and effect, hard work pays off. Just as you can't wish away those extra ten pounds you can't pray for better grades without putting in the extra work. Stop teaching our children that hard work can be supplemented with prayer. You are creating a generation of lazy people waiting around for a sign from god instead of taking their future into their own hands!

[willdabeast]

06:05 AM on 03/16/2011

Excellent comment, F&F

[plaidsportcoat]

07:16 AM on 03/16/2011

Goog comment. Praying is a kind of exceptionalism. If God answers my prayer, I'm special and worthy. Leads to extreme arrogance and over-confidence and the entitled mentality.

[Kent Brockman]

10:29 PM on 03/15/2011

And the good lord doth said, "Take up thine mighty pencil and bubble in the selection marked C."

[plaidsportcoat]

07:17 AM on 03/16/2011

L. O. L.!!!
amen, bro

[VoiceofV]

09:33 PM on 03/15/2011

OMG. So it's come to this? Jeebus help us all.

[Ronnie Avatar Dixon]

09:01 PM on 03/15/2011

Praying if so counterproductive. Double-blind studies have been done that prove that praying does not have direct affects. It may increase motivation and hope, but it will not have a direct effect on test scores. Not to mention the fact that prayer in school is blatantly unconstitutional. Perhaps this school should focus upon...hmmm....education!

[ninetailedfox]

08:44 PM on 03/15/2011

This is why the education system is failing. People would rather teach about Jesus than anything else. Disgusting.

[milfytime]

10:56 PM on 03/15/2011

Precisely.

[Eric Mann]

08:18 AM on 03/16/2011

Your comment is based on two false premises. One, the educaton system as a whole is no failing. Two, its troubles do not come from things like this.

[ninetailedfox]

08:54 AM on 03/16/2011

I used to work for a school, the list of why education is failing is very long, but this is somewhere on the list, whether you like to hear that or not.