Zorach v. Clauson - Public School Release Time

Public school release time is an arrangement that permits public school children to be dismissed from regularly scheduled classes for the purpose of attending religious instruction. According to the 30 April 1952, New York Times article, "Time Off for Religion," in 1952 there were 550,000 elementary school students in New York City eligible to take advantage of release time programs. Of that number, 105,467 actually participated. The article stated that in 1952, there were 2,000,000 students nationwide that took sanctioned time off from school in order to receive religious training.