Bill to require Bible class

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Bill to require Bible class

By Joann Livingston, Waxahachie Daily Light, April 5, 2007

According to the bill, the courses must be taught in an "objective and nondevotional manner that does not attempt to indoctrinate students as to either the truth or falsity of the Judeo-Christian biblical materials or of texts from other religious or cultural traditions other than the Judeo-Christian tradition."

The bill, which had a public hearing Tuesday in front of the Public Education Committee, also establishes basic guidelines relating to curriculum and teaching. Language in the bill appears to allow districts to offer a course that does not meet those guidelines; however, state funds may not be used in connection with any out-of-compliance course.

A fiscal note attached to the bill anticipates no fiscal implication for the state; however, "districts may experience some administrative costs to develop or purchase curriculum that complies with these requirements and to have adequate staff and space to offer the classes."

The unfunded mandate aspect of the proposed legislation has been noted by local school districts.

Dr. Joe Langley, board president for Waxahachie ISD, said he would review the proposed legislation and probably bring it up for discussion with his fellow trustees.

"An unfunded mandate always presents concerns, but beyond that, on the surface, a course on the Bible sounds very good, but there are problems that are sometimes not considered," he said. "There is such a divergence in interpretations, understanding, doctrines that interpreting the Bible I think is a very personal thing that is best done by individuals, families and churches.

"I also feel that the district and the community should make those decisions rather than the state Legislature," he said.

Ennis ISD spokesman Glenn Hyde said high school students need 25 course credits to graduate. Of those, 16 are required, leaving nine slots for electives during a four-year plan.

The EISD board would have to discuss how to handle the requirement if it passes, Hyde said, noting as an example, the number of students wanting to take the course and the staffing that would require would be a consideration.

"We might have 1,000 of our 1,500 students who want to take the course. How many teachers would we have to have to support that subject? Would we be able to close it after we reach a certain number? Could we close the class after 30 sign up?" he said, noting also the unfunded mandate aspect of the proposed legislation. "There are a lot of questions that have to be asked before they can be answered. I foresee this as something our school board would like to sit down and talk about, and given the information they can use, make a prudent decision on how EISD is going to approach that."

Texas Freedom Network communications director Dan Quinn said his organization has asked to meet with Chisum to discuss the legislation but as of yet has been unable to do so.

"We oppose it as it’s written," he said. "We’ve recommended some safeguards we would like to see added to the bill. If those were added, we would be more likely to support it."

In a press release, TFN president Kathy Miller said legislators should make sure teachers and school administrators have the guidance and resources to teach classes on the Bible in a way that respects the faiths of all families in the district.

"What schools need is help, not another mandate," Miller said. "But this bill just lets politicians grandstand with the Bible while school administrators are left trying to maneuver through the minefields of the culture wars. You can almost see the lawyers lining up."

At this time, Texas’ public school districts offer such a course on their own initiative and choosing - and about 25 high schools are doing so.

Many of those courses, however, have serious problems, according to a TFN-funded study done by Dr. Marck Chancey, a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University.

According to Chancey’s study, many of the courses being taught among the 25 high schools "suffer from serious problems, including a failure to meet even minimal standards for teacher qualifications and academic rigor. More seriously, many end up being courses about the religious views of the teachers, undermining the religious freedom of the students and their families."

Chancey has said Chisum’s bill lacks standards for teacher qualifications and instructional materials.

"The context or perspective comes from the teachers’ personal experience, often only Sunday school experience," Chancey said during a recent press conference with the TFN relating to the bill. "No one should be surprised, then, when many of these classes end up being about the religious beliefs of the teacher rather than a true study of the Bible’s influence on history and literature."

"It would be a terrible irony if an effort to teach students about the history of religious liberty in this country ended up running over it by promoting one religion above all others," said the Rev. Dr. Larry Bethune, senior pastor at University Baptist Church in Austin and a member of the Texas Faith Network, which includes more than 600 clergy members. "Let’s consider carefully how public schools can teach a course that respects both the Bible and the right of families to pass on their own religious beliefs to their children without interference from the government. As written, this bill won’t get us there."

Chancey’s study indicated 22 of the school districts "did a very poor job," Quinn said, noting Chisum’s bill provides no safeguards to ensure public schools offering such courses are in compliance with the U.S. Constitution, nor are there any requirements relating to teacher training or qualifications.

"Most teachers will then bring into the classroom their knowledge that is based on personal experience from Sunday school," he said. "It’s a recipe for a teacher teaching his or her own religious belief, rather than an actual study of the Bible and its influence on history and literature."

TFN does stand in support of the idea of teaching about the Bible in schools, Quinn said, saying, "It can be an enriching way of learning about the influence of religion on history and literature. It can contribute to a well-rounded education. But if you don’t teach it the right way, you’ll do more harm than good."

The key is to ensure the courses are taught in "a legal, constitutional, fair and unbiased way," he said, noting three school districts - Leander, North East in San Antonio and Whiteface - have avoided many of the concerns raised in Chancey’s study.

Quinn said he questions if the smaller districts will have the resources to find staff who are academically trained to teach about the Bible without running afoul of the First Amendment.

"We testified (Tuesday in the public hearing) with the intent to keep the districts out of court," Quinn said. "The last thing school districts need today is to spend a lot of money in lawsuits. If the Legislature does its work, then school districts won’t have to worry. If the Legislature doesn’t, then I think we will see districts riddled with lawsuits and that’s a tragedy."

Limited resources also may force districts into having to choose amongst their other electives, with Quinn noting, "What do you do with the other electives? What’s going to have to go?"

There are "a lot of issues" with the bill to be worked out, Quinn said, saying the TFN would be "happy to work with Rep. Chisum and the Public Education Committee to craft a bill that will benefit the students in the classroom while respecting both the Bible and the religious freedom of the families of those students.

"It’s very easy to play politics with the Bible and grandstand in favor of teaching Bible in schools," Quinn said. "It’s a lot harder to sit down and make sure these classes are done in a constitutionally appropriate way to protect the schools from legal repercussions and also protect the religious freedoms of those students who take these classes.

"I would be very upset if my child came home and told me, ‘The Bible preaches this and that’s not what you taught me.’ The last thing we want is the government telling our children what it believes about the Bible," Quinn said. "That would be turning public school into Sunday school."

One curriculum noted by Chancey is that of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, which his study criticizes as having "an obvious bias toward a view of the Bible held by fundamentalist Protestants. As a result, those courses teach perspectives and interpretations of the Bible that are simply not shared by many mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians and Jews or within the scholarly community."

Among the curriculum examples cited in the study as a promotion of one faith over another are support of a literal Biblical view of a 6,000-year-old earth, a six-day creation and the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans; belief that recent events confirm that the apocalyptic return of Christ at the "end of days" is imminent; suggestions that the creation story of Adam and Eve divinely ordains an inferior role for women in society; and assertions that Christianity supersedes Judaism.

"Most Bible courses advocate an ideological agenda that is hostile to religious freedom, science and public education itself," Chancey notes in the executive summary of his study. "Texas Bible courses regularly promote creationism and other forms of pseudo-science."

An example of that pseudo-science in some Bible courses, according to Chancey, "is the suggestion that perceived racial differences (such as personality and character traits) among humans can be traced back to Noah’s sons and their descendants after the Great Flood. This racist theory was commonly used to justify slavery and discrimination against African-Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries."

The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools issued a statement after the release of Chancey’s study last fall.

"It’s disappointing that TFN has invested so much time and expense to challenge the teaching of the Bible in Texas schools," NCBCPS president Elizabeth Ridenour said at the time. "As far as we are aware, everyone involved in teaching Bible curricula in Texas has only one goal: to present the Bible objectively and appropriately so that students can be exposed to what is arguably the most influential book in history."

NCBCPS noted in its response that its curriculum has been approved as an elective course by more than 370 school districts in 37 states and that it "strictly adheres to the provisions of the First Amendment."

The curriculum has been extensively reviewed and approved by a variety of people and specialists, and has never been legally challenged, according to the NCBCPS statement, which notes it "carefully instructs teachers of the course that public schools must remain objective and neutral in their treatment of religion."

The NCBCPS also said it recommends that such elective courses be periodically monitored.

A message left with the NCBCPS was not returned prior to press time.

TFN sent a letter to Chisum and House Public Education Committee chairman Rob Eissler on Monday stating its support for elective Bible courses and offering its assistance in amending the bill.

"If presented within guidelines established by the courts to protect religious freedom, the Texas Freedom network believes elective Bible courses can be a wonderful way to help students understand the unique importance of the Bible in history and literature," the letter reads. "Such courses must respect the right of families to pass on their own religious beliefs to their children without government interference. However, we know from a 2006 survey of Texas public school Bible courses that most Bible courses currently offered in our state’s public schools exhibit serious problems."

TFN has requested five changes to Chisum’s bill:

*Mandate that teachers have appropriate academic qualifications and sufficient training on legal and constitutional issues surrounding instruction about the Bible in public schools.

*Require rigorous, scholarly reviewed textbooks and other curriculum materials for all courses.

*Include strong and specific language that protects the religious freedom of students and their families by barring the use of Bible classes to evangelize or promote personal religious perspectives.

*Require the Texas Education Agency to regularly monitor and report on the content of public school Bible courses to ensure that they are academically and legally appropriate.

*Continue to allow districts the option to offer - or not offer - such courses.

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