School Sues State for Banning Bible Use as Textbook
A public charter school is suing Idaho officials, saying the state illegally barred use of the Bible as an instructional text. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boise on behalf of Nampa Classical Academy in Idaho.
The charter school is scheduled to open Sept. 8 and had planned to use the Bible as a primary source of teaching material, but not to teach religion.
Charter School’s Use of Bible Ignites Firestorm
August 5, 2009 by admin
Filed under Moral Decay
A new charter school planning to open this fall in Idaho has come under fire since it publicly announced one of the textbooks students will be using is the Bible.
Unlike a typical public school, the Nampa Classical Academy has the freedom under Idaho’s Public Charter School Commission to develop its own curriculum. Students will be taught, for example, Latin and Western civilization, but it’s the school’s choice to use the Bible as a historical and literary text that has ignited a public firestorm.
At a meeting of the Public Charter School Commission, parents stood and argued for and against allowing the Bible to be used in the school.
The American Civil Liberties Union plans to launch an investigation.
“Our main concern is the separation of church and state and that the state is not funding or endorsing a specific religion,” Monica Hopkins, director of the ACLU of Idaho told the Idaho Press-Tribune.
The Public Charter School Commission has directed staff to review the legality of using the Bible in charter schools.
Even Idaho’s Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Swartz, according to the Press-Tribune, has raised concerns that the Bible – even if it used in a purely secular manner – may not be allowed in the classroom under the Idaho Constitution.
