KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Texas public schools required to teach Bible. Love It or Hate It? Leave your comments

Texas public schools required to teach Bible. Love It or Hate It? Leave your comments

Posted by Michael Hetrick

The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1287-Section 4 in 2007, that mandates all Texas public schools offer instruction in the literature and history of the Bible.  The legislation must be implimented in the 2009-2010 school year.

Many protections were put in the law to ensure that the instruction would be "objective, not from a particular point of view, and would neither promote nor disparage any religion."  Other protections include mandated teacher training, state-approved training materials and standards deemed constitutional by the Texas Attorney General.

However, the Texas Education Agency has stated that it would not provide training or materials because the state did not budget the estimated $750,000 it would need to develop the materials.  Also, the State Board of Education said the curriculum standards approved were "constitutional, but were vague and provided little direction for creating a course that is so touchy."

KLTV 7's Sara Story spoke to a teacher in Whitehouse that currently teaches a Bible course, and with a representative from the Texas Education Agency.  We want to know what you think about this...Love It or Hate It?  Please comment below and your comments may be used in our newscast.

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