Voters in Missouri on Tuesday will get to decide on an amendment to the State Constitution, which is supposedly intended to clarify the status of religion in Missouri’s public places. According to the amendment’s sponsor, Representative Mike McGhee, a Republican in the State House, the measure is needed to make clear that prayer is a right.

But the amendment is unnecessary because the state and federal constitutions and court rulings already guarantee these rights. It would, instead, create confusion and wreak havoc in classrooms by giving students the right to refuse to read anything or do any assignments that they claim offends their religious views.

The ballot summary about the amendment says it would ensure right of citizens to express their religious beliefs without infringement and students the right to pray in schools. The actual words the State Legislature approved in the amendment, however, would do more.

They would allow students who believe in creationism, for example, to opt out of assignments on evolution: “no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs.” This language would almost certainly lead to litigation about who controls the curriculum in public schools.