I've been trying to keep up with news coming out of Spencer, Iowa, where the school board has been considering a "religious liberty" policy for schools. After wisely scrapping an early attempt that included curriculum changes to add a class with a creationist bent (intelligent design…same diff), the Spencer board began pursuing input from administrators, teachers, students and experts in search of the best possible policy. At the risk of toning down expected blog-levels of emotion, I must report that the new strategy strikes me as remarkably….responsible, mature and civil, for a topic that typically generates more heat than light.
Here's a sampling of quotes from the latest Spencer Daily Reporter update.
Spencer teachers and students alike who've taken part in discussions about the district's newly-proposed "religious liberty" draft policy this week agree that the conversations surrounding it are healthy ones to have within the community.
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SHS teacher David Munson [said]. "…when I look at this — and this is a far sight better than the first draft that came out — there's some things that are probably missing. I mean, if you really want to get into what is and isn't allowed, that's a very large document. … I think there are some things in here that are ambiguous and not enough to the point to where it's really of no benefit. And so, if we're going to do this, or if the purpose is to inform people about what is and isn't allowed, then I think we have some things in here that … could be spelled out better."
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"I don't fear a policy; I fear a bad policy," Munson said.
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"You could definitely have a debate whether the policy is necessary or not," [Superintendent Greg] Ebeling added. "If the school board doesn't vote for it, it won't become a policy. And, it is what it is at this point in time. … But if it does get passed by the school board, let's make sure the document is as good as we can possibly make it."
Of course, a bad policy can still come out of a reasonable process. Still, it's nice to read about a debate on this issue that doesn't devolve into charges of anti-religion, taking God out of schools, or implying the other side doesn't love the country.
