Texas Set To Offer Public High School Courses On the Bible

Texas is set to launch the teaching of the Bible as an elective across the state in public high schools, apparently without setting specific standards, inviting lawsuits over the constitutionality over what is taught. The Texas State Board of Education has adopted a rule that requires that courses not "endorse, favor, or promote, or disfavor or show hostility toward, any particular religion or nonreligious faith or religious perspective," which, invites the possibility because those who offer the classes don't have any training in what any of the phrases actually mean. The Texas Freedom Network has released a report on the problems identified with a number of public high school courses teaching the Bible as an elective. These include teaching the Bible in a manner that seems as if it's intended to indoctrinate or convert students, teaching the Bible as truth, and teaching creationism. Teaching the Bible as literature is a wonderful idea, and it doesn't have to and shouldn't, conflict with the First Amendment. A number of public schools do it successfully. But the MSNBC.com news report suggests that the Texas State Board of Education may need to revisit its Bible course rule fairly soon, since I smell "lawsuit" in the air, if some students who have enrolled in these courses wishing to learn about this Great Book as literature start thinking that, instead, they are enrolled in Bible study on during the school day.

Comments

[hall monitor]

This story was featured on http://detentionslip.org! Voted #1 for crazy news in education.