The Christian right has long dreamed of tearing down the wall of separation between churches and public schools. Just look at Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who spent two decades advocating for “religious freedom” in public schools, government, and public places.
School Ministries Inc., a South Carolina-based, Christian-oriented group, has been working to expand Bible education programs for public school students since 1991. The group maintains that “released time” spent in religious education in public schools is legal as long as it’s voluntary, the student’s parents give permission, instruction is held off school grounds, and no state resources fund the instruction.
Blue states like New York have long allowed students to get time off during the school day to receive religious instruction off school grounds. But at least six Republican-run states have now taken it a step further by offering academic credit for such religious instruction: Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah, according to School Ministries.
And now Nebraska has become the latest battleground in the religious right’s crusade to intertwine religion with public school curriculum.
The Omaha World-Herald reported that conservative lawmakers in the state’s unicameral state legislature have introduced a bill that would allow public school students to receive school credit for attending religious classes off school grounds. Other bills presented to the state legislature’s education committee would give parents more control over their local school’s library books and curriculum.
And in January, another bill was introduced in the state legislature that would enable the state to deposit $1,500 a year per student voucher into new state-managed savings accounts for parents of students attending private K-12 schools, including religious schools.
The Associated Press wrote that what is happening in Nebraska mirrors similar efforts in other red states:
Those bills are part of a broader Republican push nationwide to target a variety of culture issues in education, including diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the type of books allowed in school libraries. Conservative officials across the country have increasingly tried to limit the type of books that children are exposed to, including books that address structural racism and LGBTQ+ issues.
The Nebraska Examiner, an independent nonprofit news outlet, wrote:
Legislative Bill 1066, introduced by State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City and 11 other senators, would allow a private entity approved by a public school board to offer elective courses in religious instruction. Students would be able to attend, at most, one period or one hour of such a course per day during a semester.
Lippincott said this method of instruction, or release time, could add a “valuable missing component” to Nebraska K-12 electives. “It would be no different than a kid working at the John Deere store or doing something like this,” Lippincott told the Nebraska Examiner.
LB 1066 would allow school boards to adopt policies authorizing students to attend such courses, as long as they do not “undeniably promote licentiousness,” lack legal, moral or sexual restraints, or go against other school policies.
Yup, just like selling tractors. The Omaha World-Herald provided these details about Lippincott’s rationale in supporting the bill:
He said the proposal would offer schools and parents another tool to help build character, improve academic performance, reduce behavior issues and strengthen morality. He also said the classes could make parents more inclined to keep their children in public schools, rather than send them to faith-based schools or home school them.
Under the bill, the religious instruction classes would have to be provided by a “sponsoring entity” away from school property. The sponsoring entity or a child’s parent or guardian would have to provide transportation.
But John Bender, representing the Academic Freedom Coalition of Nebraska, said his organization was concerned that the bill would violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Nebraska Examiner reported. You know, the First Amendment that states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Bender also said how someone defines the bill’s reference to “licentious content” is subjective.
The Nebraska Examiner wrote:
Bender said the bill provides a preference for religious students with an elective option, while nonreligious students might not have similar electives available.
“While there may be a good reason for giving release time for students to take courses that are not part of the ordinary curriculum — courses the school district is not offering for one reason or another — that should be open to other kinds of courses than just religious courses,” he said.
Grant Friedman of the ACLU of Nebraska testified in opposition to the bill, according to the Examiner. And Isabella Manhart of Omaha, a college student studying to be a teacher, raised questions about whether the bill would require any credentials for religious instructors or whether they would have to undergo background checks to ensure student safety.
The Examiner wrote:
Manhart, who has advocated for LGBTQ Nebraskans, asked whether non-Christian programs would be approved and echoed Bender’s concerns on what would be considered “licentious.”
“I know I’ve had Christianity weaponized against me by members of this committee at points, so I’m just concerned that we wouldn’t want to have these elected officials making judgments about whether your religion is serious or not,” Manhart testified. […]
Lippincott told the Examiner it would be up to school boards to approve the entities providing such coursework and suggested a school board could deny an offsite course if the Satanic Temple similarly requested to teach a course.
The Education Committee did not take any immediate action on Lippincott’s bill.
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