Ohio GOP advance public school religion bills; Democrats call it overreach

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Republican state lawmakers Wednesday advanced legislation that would encourage more religion in public schools.

During marathon sessions in each chamber Wednesday, when lawmakers passed dozens of bills, an Ohio House bill advanced that would allow teaching the positive impacts of Christianity. The Senate passed a bill that would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms.

Those two bills, which would apply to traditional public and charter schools, passed their chambers of origin and now head to the other chambers for consideration.

The legislation advances as the Republican-dominated General Assembly has backed a flurry of bills reflecting their cultural beliefs. In addition to the two religion-oriented bills, the Ohio House sent to the Senate a bill Wednesday that would require schools to show students a medically inaccurate video of embryonic and fetal development, called the Baby Olivia Act, that was championed by abortion opponents.

While Republicans have the numbers to push forward their priorities, Democrats expressed frustration.

Sen. Sean Brennan, a Parma Democrat who taught social studies for three decades in public schools, ended his arguments on the House floor against the bill about Christianity’s positive impacts by sharing “something from the heart.”

“In recent months, in particular in our committee, so much of the time we’ve devoted to education policy has been dominated by divisive cultural issues,” he said, referring to the House Education Committee. “It’s not the reason I came to Columbus to serve. Rather than the work that truly moves the needle for hundreds of thousands of students, our children don’t benefit when adults in positions of trust turn education into a battlefield.”

The House Education Committee advanced both the Baby Olivia Act and the positives of Christianity bill.

Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act
House Bill 486, the Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act, states that teaching the historical, positive impact of religion and Judeo-Christian values on American history is consistent with the First Amendment and is necessary to reduce ignorance of American history, hate and violence in society.

Bill sponsor Rep. Gary Click, a Sandusky County Republican who is a pastor emeritus of a Baptist church, explained on the House floor three influential ministers who were essential to the formation of the country, but said the courts and “hate” groups, such as the ACLU and the Freedom from Religion Foundation, have subsequently misinterpreted the separation of church and state. Now teachers and students are afraid to openly discuss this history.

“We’re not talking about indoctrination,” he said. “We’re not talking about preaching to students. We’re not talking about comparative religions. We’re not talking about a Bible course. We’re talking about the factual events in history.”

The bill contains 20 examples of positive historical accounts of religion in American history. Those include:

- How church influenced the pilgrims

- “The first Thanksgiving that was observed as an act of gratitude towards God”

- Critical response to Thomas Paine’s “The Age of Reason,” including Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion it be burned

- How religion influenced the civil rights movement

- “The impact of religious leaders such as evangelist minister Billy Graham on the culture of this nation”

- The history behind the motto “In God We Trust”

“This bill is named in honor of Charlie Kirk,” Click said. “Charlie Kirk was an American patriot. I know not everyone agrees with him, and that’s just fine, but he was an American patriot who believed in free speech, he engaged with those who even disagreed with him. And he lost his life for his free speech.”

Brennan countered that educators already teach these historical points and more. He read from George Washington’s First Thanksgiving Proclamation on the House floor and said he taught it each year. But Brenner said that religion and God in the Declaration of Independence, Washington’s Thanksgiving speech, and the U.S. and Ohio constitutions aren’t sectarian. That was purposeful, he said.

“This bill, while permissive, is still problematic,” he said. “When the legislature singles out one faith tradition for praise and writes it into law, we send the wrong message that government has a preferred version of religion or a preferred interpretation of history.”

HB 486 passed 61 to 26, mostly on party lines.

Ten Commandments in classrooms
The Senate passed Senate Bill 34, the Enact the Historical Education Displays Act, 23 to 10.

The vote was also mostly along party lines, with Republican Sen. Nathan Manning of North Ridgeville joining Democrats in voting against it. It now heads to the House.

Boards of education of each school district shall vote to display at least four of the following nine documents in grades 4-12 classrooms:

-The Mayflower Compact

-The Declaration of Independence

-The Northwest Ordinance

- The mottoes of the United States and Ohio

-The Ten Commandments

-The Magna Carta

-The Bill of Rights

-The United States Constitution

-The Articles of Confederation

Most of these documents can fit on an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet of paper, said bill sponsor, state Sen. Terry Johnson, a Scioto County Republican and retired physician.

The bill says the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce shall post online materials to assist school districts with formatting and educational requirements.

“The reason for this bill is to expose our students to documents which have in America served as the backbone of our legal and moral traditions as a people,” Johnson said. “In my mind, it has been inexcusable that more focus has not been shown towards these historic texts within the academic arena in our state, denying the vital legal and moral essence that our children need to thrive as good American citizens.”

The bill allows schools to erect a monument with the documents on school grounds. They can accept donations for this purpose.

“It is essential that the displays are funded and promoted by the communities themselves, having a say in what gets displayed in their schools,” Johnson said. “Cost is a crucial factor in this legislation and we do not want to put any undue burden on our public school districts.”

Sen. Kent Smith, a Euclid Democrat, said that the state’s social studies standards require students to study many of these documents.

“Senate Bill 34 would do nothing to ensure that Ohio public school students are better suited to take on the challenges of the real world. The legislation only serves the purpose of pushing religious beliefs onto students,” he said.

If Ohio passes SB 34, it will enter a national battle over Ten Commandment displays.

Smith noted that on Tuesday a federal judge ruled that a Texas law requiring the classroom display of Ten Commandments is unconstitutional and ordered some school districts to remove their displays.

Sen. Andrew Brenner, a Delaware County Republican, said that the Texas law required the commandments to be displayed. Ohio’s is optional.

State Sen. Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat who is the minority leader in the Senate, said a school’s choice to display the Ten Commandments can appear to favor one faith over another.

“But if someone donates to it to them, it’s still a form of religious establishment and it is prohibited by the Constitution. The early founders… some of them were religious, but not all of them. But they recognized the diversity of beliefs in America.”