Despite a new state law allowing Texas school districts to offer courses in Bible literacy, the Houston Chronicle reports that, faced with the daunting task of actually administering one, schools have been "slow to add" them.
Local districts' slow response to Texas' law could signal fear of dealing with the complicated and controversial issue. It's one ripe with legal mine fields. Some districts, including one in Ector County in West Texas, have landed in court when critics argued that the curriculum crossed the fine line between teaching and preaching.
Texas' new law, some people say, is promising because it safeguards religious freedom and quells proselytizing. There's concern, though, that a lack of resources and vague curriculum standards are undermining the law.
“The state is encouraging Bible classes and providing very little help and resources on how to do it the right way,” said Dan Quinn, communication director for the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit watchdog group. “Our research showed school districts are not equipped.”
Better for them that they decline to offer classes in the Bible than risk a costly constitutional violation. If the state wants local districts to negotiate that difficult terrain, shouldn't training and assistance be provided? Just calling it a "Bible Literacy" class isn't enough to ensure its legality. School officials seem to recognize this, even if state legislators do not.
