ce their varied religious customs. However, the clause that separates church from state ensures that the government does not favor one religion over another. Thus, any government-funded school cannot teach religious doctrines or institute school prayers, etc. In a letter addressed to all school principals, the United States Secretary of Education said, "School officials may not endorse or favor religious activity or doctrine, coerce participation in religious activity, or seek to impose their religious beliefs on impressionable children..."' (qtd. in Secretary of Education). The Secretary's statement means that while students are allowed to express their religious beliefs, teachers are not. In the same letter, the Secretary stated, "The right to engage in personal voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from discrimination does not include the right to have a captive audience listen, or compel other students to participate'" (qtd. in Secretary of Education). It was with the former guidelines in mind that Congress banned all faculty or student-led prayers at football games, graduation ceremonies, etc. Thus, although freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Constitution, the practice of expressing religion in a government funded education system is prohibited.Another facet of Soviet education is controlled learning. In the USSR, the State decided what and where each child would study. Courses in Marxism-Leninism were mandatory, and students in universities were required to pass an exam in Marxist ideology. Science and other fact-based fields mostly escaped politicization, but economics and social sciences were reshaped to conform with Marxist principles. Therefore, ideology governed how history and philosophy were to be taught. Curricula, textbooks, and instruction were related to teaching Communist values (Tift). Trying to share a broader view of history than what was officially acknowledged by the Soviet government wa...
