Jewish Children Hide Their Religion As Result of Religious Teaching in Schools

In schools where released time for religious instruction is part of the public school program Jewish children occasionally attend Christian religious classes for fear of disclosing their differences of religious belief, Leo Preffer, assistant director of the American Jewish Congress Commission on Law and Social Action, declares in a pamphlet, “Religion and the Public Schools,” published today.

Preffer, a leading authority on problems of church and state in the U.S., also reports that public school authorities are often guilty of proselytizing and other forms of pressure to obtain enrollments in religious classes. Charging that releeased time represents a threat to the principle of church and state, he declares that the extent of religious instruction which can be imparted in the limited time available under the released time program is negligible.