COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two pieces of legislation currently moving through the House and Senate in the US State of Ohio have been raising concerns about the role of religion in the educational system. House Bill 445 would change current law so that public schools would need to implement a policy permitting students to participate in religious classes during school hours, provided their parents opt-in. Meanwhile, House Bill 8, dubbed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” would mandate public schools to inform parents about materials concerning sexuality, offer them an opportunity for review, and provide the option for alternative instruction upon request. It might also out LGBTQ2SI+ students.
House Bill 8 is further along. Its long title is “To amend sections 3314.03 and 3326.11 and to enact section 3313.473 of the Revised Code to enact the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” to require public schools to adopt a policy on parental notification on student health and well-being and instructional materials with sexuality content.” The bill was introduced by State Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R-District 89/Huron) and State Rep. Sara Carruthers (R- District 47/Hamilton). The bill was introduced last year in February and was passed by the Ohio House in June. It is awaiting Senate approval.
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The bill apparently exempts situations where students seek information about venereal disease.
Last Tuesday the bill came to public comment at the Senate Education Committee meeting. “Any requests by a student to identify as a gender that does not align with the student’s biological sex, it very explicitly would require schools to out students to their parents,” said Mallory Golski, the civic engagement and advocacy manager for Kaleidoscope Youth Center.
Maria Bruno, Equality Ohio’s public policy director said “Forcing schools to out kids, regardless of their home situation, will lead to unconscionable cruelty against LGBTQ kids.”
Jeanne Ogden, of Trans Allies of Ohio, asked for clarity about the bill and received no answers. “I asked in this hearing last time, if you could give me a definition of gender ideology, and you haven’t done that. So I’m very concerned about having some kind of vague definition of gender ideology.”
The bill is supported by at least one Christian group framing it as the expansion of freedoms. “In a free society in which parents are the primary providers for their children, it is the parents who ought to have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the upbringing, care, and education of their child,” said Troy McIntosh, executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network.
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The Front of US Supreme Court at dusk [Wikimedia]
Meanwhile, House Bill 445 would change the single word “may to “shall” in an existing law passed in 2014 so that public schools would need to establish a policy enabling students to participate in religious classes during school hours, contingent upon parental opt-in. The bill was introduced by State Rep. Al Cutrone (R-District 58/Canfield) and State Rep. Gary Click (R-District 88/Vickery). Its long title is “To amend section 3313.6022 of the Revised Code regarding school district policies for released time courses in religious instruction.” The Bill was introduced on March 12, 2024, is currently in the House Committee on Primary and Secondary Education since April 2, 2024.
Although the US Constitution establishes no preferred religion and the government cannot endorse any religion, the US Supreme Court has twice upheld in its decisions that religious classes are permitted with restrictions. In the 1948 decision of McCollum v. Board of Education, the US Supreme Court ruled that religious instruction in public schools during school hours was unconstitutional. Then, in the 1952 decision of Zorach v. Clauson, the Court upheld a program that allowed students to be released from public schools for religious instruction off-campus, deeming it constitutional.
However, in some states like Ohio, there are conditions. Parents are required to provide written permission, the organization delivering religious instruction must maintain attendance records, students cannot skip core classes to attend, and schools bear no liability for incidents occurring during student transportation.
That fine with Christian groups like Lifewise Academy which supports the legislation and offers a The Gospel Project curriculum “designed to take students through the entire Bible, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation.” It provides context for Biblical superiority in understanding the universe. While it focuses on elementary school education it offers curriculum through middle school on the New and Old Testaments offering a rotation of off-campus classes in lieu of optional courses like music or physical education.
For example, in creation stories, the Lifewise curriculum notes that “most of the time, the human race appears to be an accident formed by larger divine forces that did not care about our creation or our destiny. Yet, in Genesis, everything started with one God who alone created everything out of nothing. He created with intentionality and ease. He took counsel from no one, not even the angels, whom He also created. It all came from Him, and He made it out of nothing.”
“You’re going to be facing pressure because your peers are telling you, ‘Hey, you should be coming to LifeWise’,” said Ryan Jayne, a senior policy counsel for the Freedom From Religion Action Fund. “We really feel like there’s plenty of time in the week outside of school hours where parents can provide their children with religious education and there’s no need to be carving that out of the school day, especially when it has these inherently divisive properties.”
While Christian commentators found the Lifewise curriculum positive and uplifting, social media commentators were less enthusiastic. Many noted that this is a slow chipping of individual freedoms to establish Christian dominance. Others commented that the systematic and predatory nature of these types of legislation ensures the elimination of the separation of church and state.
As noted, both bills remain in the legislative process. Other states like Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin are attempting to enact similar laws.
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