Atlanta, USA - Georgia public high schools may offer classes on the Bible next fall, but they'll get few guidelines from the state on how to ensure their lessons do not promote religion.
A new law requires the State Board of Education to create two optional, non-devotional classes on the history and literature of the Old and New Testaments and leaves the details for the State Board of Education to decide. But a proposal from the state Department of Education indicates that most of the decisions will be left to local school systems — which will be given little information about appropriate lessons, classroom materials or teacher qualifications.
"The important thing is the history and literature of the Bible is taught, and it not be taught for indoctrination," said state Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons), who sponsored the bill authorizing the classes.
"There are some good materials out there and hopefully they'll find those," added Williams, who is an adviser to a North Carolina group that produces a Bible-based curriculum for public schools. "I'm sure people who sell books will be calling on them."
Other states, including Florida, have offered similar courses in public schools, but Georgia's law is believed to be the first to mandate that the state board create them. School systems here, however, don't have to offer the classes because they're not part of the course work students need to graduate.
In the past, some Georgia systems have expressed interest in carrying classes devoted to the Bible, but it's unclear how many might try them out.
"We are not going to say yes or no at this point," said Fayette County Superintendent John DeCotis. "If the course is presented as they say it is — that it is just going to be a historical course — then we already do a lot of that anyway with the Comparative Religions class that we teach."
According to the proposal, which state school board members are expected to approve next month, the half-semester courses could cover the history of the Kingdom of Israel, poetry of the Old Testament, life and parables of Jesus, life and travels of the Apostle Paul and the influence of the Scriptures on literature, art, music, law and current events.
State officials don't provide specific lessons or reading materials that teachers should use other than the Bible. The proposal simply says students are expected to learn how the Good Book came to be, the literary styles that were used, major narratives, the book's influence on contemporary culture and the development of translations.
"What we have ... is an attempt to meet the mandate of the law, but to just be so, so careful to not step out and make it look as though they're designing a religious course," said Herb Garrett, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association. "But it looks like it would require a good deal more reflection on the part of the local school systems if they wanted to choose one of these curriculum packages that are out there."
State education officials said they don't adopt all reading materials or provide lesson plans for elective courses, despite the law's provisions that they do so for these Bible classes. Officials also said they won't hold a public hearing on the proposal before the state board considers approving the courses Jan. 11.
State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox received the recommendation from a specially formed Bible Curriculum Committee this month.
"I'm sure if she has concerns about the recommendation, she'll make them known to the board," Cox spokesman Dana Tofig said Thursday. "But I'm sure if a local system needed more guidance our curriculum department could help."
During two, three-hour meetings, the committee of educators, citizens, clergy and department staff hashed out a plan for Cox to submit to the state board. Much of the language proposed for course descriptions, academic goals and guidelines for reading materials came directly from the law or prior versions of the bill.
Panel members said they discussed some of the constitutional concerns that might arise from such courses. But they agreed that if they stuck to the law's language, schools should have adequate guidance.
"We had the legislation in front of us the entire time we worked and stayed very close to it," said committee member Patti Morrow, who said she holds a master's degree in biblical studies from Emory University. "That was the best way for us to avoid the accusation of proselytizing or trying to sneak Sunday school classes in the back door. No one on the committee wanted that to happen."
Charles Haynes, a senior scholar with the Virginia-based First Amendment Center, which advocates for the proper teaching of religion in public schools, has helped to develop similar courses. He's been critical of Georgia's attempts.
"It's just very difficult to put together a good course within the stricture of this bill," he said. "I think it was not a bill that was passed to guide public schools into what a good, sound Bible elective would be. It was more a political bill."
State Sen. Kasim Reed, an Atlanta Democrat who sponsored a competing bill to create similar classes, said he was concerned education officials may not have fully considered the problems teachers will face. He was troubled that the department would not provide a list of suggested reading materials — other than the Bible, which the law states must be the "basic text" — and had not worked with legal scholars to develop the courses.
"We never believed that this was something ... that you could do easily because of the constitutional issues," Reed said. "But we believe at the end of the day that the value in exposing our young people to this was worth it.
"Now if any committee or the state board wants to handle this in a way that I don't think is surrounded by the amount of work that is needed to get this right, then we may need to revisit the issue during the legislative session."
THE STORY SO FAR
• Previously: Georgia lawmakers approved a bill in March calling for the creation of two elective courses: "History and Literature of the Old Testament Era" and "History and Literature of the New Testament Era."
• The latest: A Bible Curriculum Committee, created by the state Department of Education, has recommended what high school students should be expected to learn in the half-semester classes. A draft of the proposal shows school systems will be mostly on their own to create the course work.
• What's next: State Board of Education members will meet Jan. 11 to discuss the proposal and possibly approve the courses. School systems could begin offering them next school year.