In the past few years, there has been multitudes of legislation passed, changed and overturned in the United States. With students at GlenOak being the future voters of this country in an ever-changing political climate, it is imperative to be educated on the current legislation.

On March 12, House Bill 445 of Ohio was introduced in the House. The intended purpose of this legislation is to require all Ohio schools to provide some form of off-campus religious instruction during the school day. More specifically, it amends the current legislation that states schools “may” require religious instruction to “shall.”

One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Representative Melanie Miller of District 67, provides clear guidelines as to what the bill entails for students at Ohio public schools.

“Many Christian-based programs are being utilized but it could be for other religions as well,” Representative Miller said. “And what’s nice about this is that it’s nothing that is forced upon a student, it is something that a parent would have to provide written consent for.”

The religious instruction itself would not take place on the school’s campus as the bill must be done through a separate entity off-campus. However, the program would also be at no cost to the school. Depending on what program, company or church is being utilized, that third-party provider would volunteer to transport and educate the children. 

One major company that has begun doing this is Lifewise Academy. It provides biblical education across the country to students during the school day at their facility. The school district communicates with Lifewise to determine a plan that works best for both parties.

“One of the programs that I’m very familiar with in my district (Ashland County) and it definitely has a growing interest around Ohio and across the country but it is not limited to this program, is a program called Lifewise Academy,” Representative Miller said. 

Lifewise Academy is a large program that follows the fundamentals of this bill through its biblical education. It provides biblical education across the country to students during the school day at their facility. The school district communicates with Lifewise to determine a plan that works best for both parties.

However, large institutions like Lifewise are not always utilized. In smaller communities, it can oftentimes just be a local church or volunteers providing the education. 

“A lot of times it is individuals within that specific community that are teaching those children so not necessarily an out-of-state group or people that are unrecognizable to the children,” Representative Miller said. 

With this bill, there is still a lot of controversy regarding the lack of separation of public schools from religion, especially because the programs tend to cater to Christian-based education. 

Sophomore Johari Abdul-Zahir expresses her feelings about the bill from the perspective of a practicing Muslim. 

“We live in the United States of America where allegedly you are allowed to believe in whatever you want,” Abdul-Zahir said. “But when we restrict the knowledge of other religions to put one on a pedestal that’s where I draw the line.”

As Abdul-Zahir mentioned, many others fear that this bill may favor the Christian majority rather than being about theology and religion as a whole. Due to the bill being volunteer-based by local churches or pre-existing programs, the majority of churches and programs in our area that can afford to do this are the large Christian ones. 

Sophomore Matthew Howell expresses concerns about the bill in regards to the student body and its educational needs. 

“Students who want to pursue a theological education should be able to do so, but the options of which theology shouldn’t be limited to any one religion,” Howell said. “An off-campus education may take time away from other classes too.”

It is important to recognize the lack of parameters regarding the times in which students are allowed to be off-campus. Rachel Coyel, policy lead of Honesty for Ohio Education, expressed concern to News2 about children being potentially exploited during the school day, due to the lack of protection in the bill. 

While much concern is expressed about the bill, there is also much endorsement of it. To see where the bill is in Congress and how it may be affecting you and your community, follow the link below to read the legislation and see the bill’s status. 

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb445