Georgia schools cut Bible classes to pay bills

Economic troubles are causing public school districts in Georgia to cut Bible education courses, five years after the state became the first to allow the controversial elective.

Superintendents say budget cuts require some classes to have more than 25 students before the classes are affordable. Unlike past years, students have tougher math standards to meet and more Advanced Placement courses.

“We’re not going to utilize a teacher for a whole period with 10-15 students. In the past, we may have considered that, but with the economy being the way it is, we just can’t afford to do that,” said Columbia County schools superintendent Charles Nagle, who has cut the Bible classes from three to one in his tiny district. Four years ago, 48 of Georgia’s 180 school districts offered the classes. This year, only 16 districts have decided to have the classes.

Because Georgia is the only state that tracks Bible electives, it’s hard to be sure if enrollment is decreasing in other states. Officials in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Oklahoma approve curriculum and let local districts decide whether to offer the classes. Hundreds of school districts in other states, such as Alabama, also offer voluntary Bible electives, even without a statewide law.

According to the Virginia-based Bible Literacy Project, more than 500 schools in 43 states use its public school textbook, The Bible and Its Influence. In 38 states, 2,140 high schools in 593 school districts use The Bible In History and Literature, another popular curriculum from the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS). This past August, 10 times more high schools than usual decided to use the NCBCPS curriculum, mostly because it is now available in a more flexible electronic version.

Sarah Jenislawski, executive director for the Bible Literacy Project, said she still sees “a consistent interest from both districts and students in Bible courses,” but that schools are struggling to pay teachers to teach the classes: “They’re having trouble keeping the lights on and keeping the air conditioner running.”

Mark Chancey, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University, said teachers have “very few suitable curricular resources.” The Bible and Its Influence is too expensive for some districts, he said, and the NCBCPS curriculum has what he called an “overt bias toward conservative Protestant theology.” Liberals have slammed the NCBCPS textbook for, among other things, listing Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

Liberal and conservative groups have long debated the teaching of the Bible in public schools. Under the Georgia law, Bible education classes must be taught “in an objective and non-devotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students.” Critics worried that the law would open schools to lawsuits, but Georgia districts have avoided legal issues so far by ensuring that their courses conform to strict guidelines.

Some parents say they wish their districts had the Bible classes because children need to know how the text has influenced literature and pop culture. Wendy Labat has an eighth-grade son in a county that has never offered the Bible electives: “Whether you believe in God or not … kids need to have that experience.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.