For the past decade, members of the public educational community have calle
d attention to threats to public schooling and to a pluralist democracy fro
m religious conservatives. This article reviews recent empirical and theore
tical research on religious conservatives, suggesting that they form a grou
p that is very large and not necessarily Christian and which may be conside
rably less monolithic, less extreme less politically active, and less conse
rvative than previously thought. The article explores holy the educational
reform movement's focus on curriculum standards, academic rigor and a large
r role for the state may befalling to connect with religious communities th
at place greater value on instruction in morality, strong interpersonal rel
ations and an ethos of individual responsibility.