To the Editor: Public school credit for religious classes wrong

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The Ohio House has passed HB 171 which would award elective credit for released-time religious
instruction. It will now move to the Senate.
The U.S. Supreme Court in the 1950s approved the concept of "released-time instruction,"
whereby students can be dismissed for an hour a week during the school day to receive religious
instruction off-campus by churches and religious groups – provided no public money or school officials
are involved.
The Ohio bill goes far beyond the parameters of the Supreme Court decision, by offering public school
credit for such religious instruction. Students could take devotional classes, as taught by a local
church or religious group, in place of bonafide educational units in other subjects, such as foreign
language, fine arts, and business.
This bill is a mistake because, at its core, HB 171 opens the door to public school students receiving
school credit to learn sectarian religious ideology. While the bill requires a school board to use
certain "secular criteria" to evaluate courses for credit, these criteria are still vague and
could provide for problematic state sanctioning of religious teachings. Students should be free to study
religious based courses on their own time, but the public school system should not be rewarding credits
for overtly religious instruction. What can’t be taught in the public school clearly should not be
eligible for public school credit when taught off-campus.
Our schools face a multitude of problems in educating our students and actions such as this aren’t going
to help them achieve the results we desire.
Chris Jackson
Bowling Green

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