What people are saying:

• Secular Education Association: This is why “may” to “shall” matters.

  It sounds like a tiny wording change. It is not.

  “May” means local school boards have discretion.

  “Shall” means districts are forced to approve these programs if the paperwork checks the box.

  That is the national strategy: make released-time religious instruction look “local,” while state lawmakers quietly remove local control.

  Ohio is just one receipt. What is your state doing while no one is watching?

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association , we’re keeping an eye on other bills for that same reason. H. B. 486, the “Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act,” will permit teachers to “provide instruction on the
    influence of Judeo-Christian values on history and culture.” What follows is a list of badly-sourced talking points about how the US supposedly is a Christian country. (The “Judeo” part was a more recent edit, and there are no examples of Jewish heritage.)

    Of course, teachers have always been able to discuss the influence, both good and bad, on US history. This is a thinly masked attempt to embed the idea that we are founded as a Christian country, which is false. I think it would take very little to come back and turn that “permit teachers” into “requiring teachers.”

  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User that’s on our radar as well! Absolutely correct. We agree.
• Facebook User: QUIT GROOMING BABIES
  • Facebook User: Jeri Robbins yes. Quit religious indoctrination of our children. Quit forcing tge Christian religion down our throats and the throats of our children!
• Facebook User: I’d pull my kid out of school before I’d allow Christian nationalism to be forced down my throat.
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User unfortunately, they know that… that’s their goal too. The more people who pull their kids from public school, the faster they take over and there is NO more public school. But we do understand your feeling on the subject.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Pulling your kid out of school is exactly what they want.
• Facebook User: The only way the Republican controlled legislation listens is when voters go to the polls and vote them out. Enough is enough!
• Facebook User: Sham and scam.
  Time for Click to get new job
• Facebook User: He’s a superintendent in a TINY, very red NW Ohio community. I’m extremely grateful for any pushback Dr. Bob is able to provide to these indoctrination classes.
• Facebook User: And meanwhile those religious instruction groups are introducing predators to children as Lifewise did in Zanesville, Ohio
• Facebook User: And yet, teachers will be held responsible for the scores of children who are missing out on academic instructional time!!!
• Facebook User: It is going to get worse when in a few short years, with the legislature handicapping schools financially, the LifeWise movement will become forced Christian schools replacing public education. While the volunteers may be well meaning, the movement is a Trojan Horse to attack public education with an ultraconservative faith group that is anti-Catholic, and negative to most religious sects.
• Facebook User: This is what grooming looks like.
• Facebook User: LifeWise was developed just across the river from me. Its a White Christian Nationalist indoctrination and recruitment program. The bait is getting out of classes. The kids are sent back to class after an hour of propaganda with orders to recruit.
• Facebook User: Sometimes I feel this is just another tactic by pedophiles to get close to kids. Priests and preachers gave long been the most aggregious sexual deviants ever. There is no reason for a child to be alone with anyone, ever. A parent needs to be present at all times.