π¨ ALABAMA PARENTS & EDUCATORS: PAY ATTENTION π¨
Alabama Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) β the national LifeWise playbook β is now in Alabama and pending in the Senate Education Policy Committee.
π Read the bill text yourself:
π https://legiscan.com/AL/text/SB4/id/3257820/Alabama-2026-SB4-Introduced.pdf
This is not new policy.
SB 4 is boilerplate βmay β shallβ legislation mirroring the same national model used state-by-state to scale programs like LifeWise Academy.
States like Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, and Montana have already been pushed to make released-time religious instruction mandatory following coordinated LifeWise-backed legislative campaigns.
π Important context: this already failed in Alabama last year.
In the 2025 session, lawmakers introduced HB 342 (Rep. Susan DuBose), which would have required school boards to adopt religious release-time policies. That bill failed in committee after lawmakers raised concerns about local control and disruption to the school day.
A companion bill, SB 229 (Sen. Shay Shelnutt), was also introduced β and did not advance.
SB 4 is the same policy effort, refiled.
π Hereβs what that means β plainly:
Alabama law already allows religious release time.
SB 4 makes it MANDATORY.
Right now, local school boards may adopt a released-time policy.
SB 4 says they SHALL.
That single word removes local control and forces every public school district to create a pathway for religious instruction during the school day β whether communities want it or not.
β οΈ SB 4 would REQUIRE districts to:
β’ Adopt a released-time religious instruction policy
β’ Allow students to leave campus during the school day
β’ Count religious instruction as school attendance
β’ Build it into schedules as an elective-credit option
This is not neutral housekeeping.
This is institutionalizing religious instruction inside the public school day statewide.
βοΈ TAKE ACTION
π£ Contact members of the Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee and tell them to OPPOSE SB 4.
π Committee contact list:
πhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HwNkjLalC67XT6RNanLCl26ic3W9y7H3DNn_JSj5a_A/edit?usp=sharing
Please share this post. Bills like this move fast β early opposition matters.
What people are saying:
- Secular Education Association: Tagging for Visibility
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