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Congress Passes Equal Access Act

1984

Congress passes the Equal Access Act to end “perceived widespread discrimination” against religion in public schools. The law has three basic requirements: nondiscrimination against religious student groups (i.e., those groups must be treated just like any other student group); protection of student-initiated meetings (i.e., those that are started and led by students, not by the school or teachers); and local control (i.e., local school administrators are free to determine the appropriate discipline when students express religious beliefs at school).