The First Amendment Center responds to calls for help from communities where fights about religion and values have erupted in the public schools.

From court-ordered in-service training for teachers and administrators in northern Alabama to mediation between religious conservatives and schools in northern California, the center resolves conflicts by using First Amendment principles to find common ground.

This Religious Freedom Program of the First Amendment Center grew out of the publication Finding Common Ground (listed below), by Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center senior scholar, and Oliver Thomas. Haynes also writes a biweekly syndicated column, Inside the First Amendment.

Publications used in the Finding Common Ground program to address aspects of religious freedom in the public schools include:

• Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Education
• A Parent's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools
• A Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools
• The Bible and Public Schools
• Public Schools & Religious Communities: A First Amendment Guide