Baltimore Schools Investigating Prayer Service Seeking Good MSA Grades

The Baltimore Sun (3/15, Green) reports that Baltimore, Maryland, officials are investigating reports that a "Baltimore elementary school principal used prayer services to prepare pupils for recent statewide tests. For two years, prayer services have been held at Northeast Baltimore's Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School as the Maryland School Assessments, a standardized test for children in the third through eighth grades, neared. Fliers promoted the most recent event, on March 5, as a way to 'come together, as one, in prayer and ask God to bless our school to pass the MSA.'" The district released a statement to the effect that such a service would be inappropriate, while an ACLU lawyer "called the service a clear violation of the US Constitution."