American Family Association: Alabama Bible Bill Right Idea, Wrong Way
Posted on: Friday, 9 December 2005, 15:00 CST
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Dec. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -b A bill pre-filed in the Alabama Legislature, HB 58, seeks to mandate the use of an untested high school textbook on the Bible in contravention of state law requiring that all textbooks be reviewed and approved by the State Board of Education.
The bill, introduced by State House Majority Leader Ken Guin and State Speaker Seth Hammett, would authorize high schools to offer a course on the Bible as an elective, but would require that any such course use only a new textbook titled, "The Bible and Its Influence" by the Bible Literacy Project (BLP).
"While we enthusiastically endorse the teaching of the Bible as part of a well-rounded education, this bill goes too far by attempting to force local school districts to use only one, untested textbook," commented Stephen Crampton, chief counsel for the AFA Center for Law & Policy. "It usurps the authority of the State Board of Education, which is vested with exclusive authority to review and approve textbooks for use in the public schools of Alabama," Crampton continued.
Several Alabama schools already offer a course on the Bible using an established curriculum offered by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS) called "The Bible in History and Literature." The NCBCPS curriculum is currently used in 317 school districts (1,100 high schools) in 37 different states, and enjoys wide support across the nation.
"The citizens of Alabama would be much better served with a bill that simply encourages the offering of an elective course on the Bible without mandating the use of any specific curriculum," Crampton said. "This bill, if passed into law, would invite a legal challenge based on its plain violation of existing statutes." Crampton has offered to assist in drafting a revised bill that would eliminate the legal defects in the current bill.
http://www.usnewswire.com
Source: U.S. Newswire
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