With battles in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, public school classrooms are a troubling religious liberty hotspot
Last week, the Texas State Board of Education voted 8-7 to advance a new curriculum that would add biblical and Christian references to many reading and language lessons for elementary school children. The program is optional, but it offers financial incentives for school districts that agree to adopt it. The curriculum drew fierce opposition, and it became an issue that united Democrats and Republicans on the SBOE to oppose the measure.
The New York Times’ report provides examples from the proposed curriculum:
A kindergarten lesson on the Golden Rule introduces students to Jesus and his Sermon on the Mount, for example. And a fifth-grade lesson on Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” includes an account of the final meal shared by Jesus and his 12 disciples, as well as several verses from the Gospel of Matthew.
While there are appropriate ways to incorporate the study of religious texts in public schools, these materials miss that mark. Because the proposed curriculum is neither age-appropriate nor relevant to the subject matter, it presents faith claims as fact claims and results in a devotional approach rather than objective consideration of the text. Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman talk about the issues extensively on the final segment of episode 2 of season 6 of the Respecting Religion podcast, titled Oklahoma and Texas try to force Bible teaching in public schools.
Opposition to the curriculum comes from parents who don’t want the state engaging in religious instruction; religious literacy scholars who are concerned that the lessons are biased in favor of Christianity over other religions; and, as The New York Times reported, advocates who question the educational quality. From the article:
Amanda Tyler, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, said at a news conference on Monday that the curriculum was “neither instructionally sound, nor factually accurate,” and would teach “misleading” content to children as young as 5.
Now, the cross-partisan issue shifts to the school boards across Texas, and BJC will continue working with partners and Texas across the state, as people work to tell their school board members the problems with this Bluebonnet curriculum. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile in Louisiana, a troubling law (H.B. 71) requiring all public school classrooms to prominently post the Ten Commandments will remain halted after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state’s request to overturn federal Judge John DeGravelle’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional. In a 177-page opinion issued earlier this month explaining his decision, Judge DeGravelle relied heavily on Stone v. Graham, a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court case striking down a Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every classroom.
Judge DeGravelle writes:
H.B. 71’s minimum requirements for posting a specific version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom, all year round, regardless of subject matter of the class or the age of the student, which will certainly be seen by impressionable youths required to attend class, runs afoul of Stone.
Lastly, in Oklahoma, School Superintendent Ryan Walters continues to issue dramatic and, according to his own state’s attorney general, legally suspect edicts in his ongoing effort to infuse public schools with religious instruction. First, he directed all of the state’s public school classrooms to come equipped with a particular type of Bible. Now, Walters has announced the creation of a new “religious liberty” office and mandated that all school children watch his video announcement of the office, which includes his prayer for President-elect Trump.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond responded by saying the superintendent has no authority to issue such a mandate.
A public school classroom should be a place where all students feel welcome regardless of their religious perspective. Instead, it is quickly becoming a laboratory for activists seeking to promote a Christian nationalist agenda. Schoolchildren and their parents deserve better.
