Here’s the problem in plain sight. This is not just “Bible class.” This is a released-time religious instruction program teaching 4th graders that they have a “job” to “go and make disciples” and “share the Good News.” That means children are being pulled from the public school day and taught that part of their role… Read More

SEA has been documenting these harms for years. This email was uncovered through SEA’s Defiance City Schools public records request. We first posted about it on July 31, 2024. In the email, a school employee referred to children who did not attend LifeWise as “LifeWise leftovers.” In January 2022, that group included the daughter of… Read More

Public School Belonging Day is coming to Fort Wayne! 💜 Join us Saturday, May 2, 2026 for a community-centered day of inclusion, encouragement, and support for local public school students and families. This event is built around one simple message: Every child belongs in public school. Students of every faith, no faith, background, identity, and… Read More

This has been happening in some places since the 1950s. That does not mean it was harmless. That does not mean every child was fine. And it does not mean public schools should keep helping religious programs separate children during the school day. Even in 1952, when the Supreme Court allowed off-campus released time in… Read More

55,000 hours is not a success story. It is a public school disruption report. In this video, they say their classes have exceeded 55,000 hours.. That is not a tiny after-school Bible club. That is tens of thousands of hours of children being pulled out of the public school day for religious instruction. And the… Read More

🎉 ENTER TO WIN 🎉 We’re giving away a 4-pack of Reserved Seats to a Fort Wayne Tin Caps game at Public School Belonging Day in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Saturday, May 2. Come out, celebrate with us, and enter for a chance to win. Details: One entry per adult guestMust be 18+ to enterMust… Read More

You may see a lot of estimates floating around about how many classroom hours these Lifewise programs are costing students. And to be clear, the impact is enormous. LifeWise’s own public-facing numbers say they serve 64,168 students in 983 schools across 33 states. Even if you use a very basic low estimate of 1 hour… Read More

🎉 ENTER TO WIN 🎉 We’re giving away a 4-pack of tickets to Summit City Comedy Club at Public School Belonging Day in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Saturday, May 2. Come out, celebrate with us, and enter for a chance to win. Details: One entry per adult guestMust be 18+ to enter the clubMust be… Read More

Every child deserves to feel like they belong. 💙 On May 2 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, SEA will be celebrating Public School Belonging Day as part of the AHA American Empathy Project by putting together 100 Belonging Bags for kids. Each bag will include small items and one simple message every child deserves to hear:… Read More

🌎 EARTH DAY isn’t a vibe. It’s science. You can’t celebrate Earth Day while normalizing biblical literalism during the school day. Earth Day is about the future young people are inheriting — and that future depends on evidence: climate science, geology, biology, data, reality. But too many kids are still being exposed to messaging that… Read More

We posted this 2 years ago. We posted it again 37 weeks ago. And we are posting it again now because people still need to see it. This is LifeWise’s own internal training document given to volunteers and teachers — titled “Difficult Questions from Students.” Read what it says. It tells adults how to answer… Read More

They were approaching families during elementary school pickup. Not at church.Not after school at a private event.In the pickup line. In the parking lot. At an elementary school. A Michigan grandparent says LifeWise members were approaching cars and families at Reeths Puffer Elementary while teachers were telling them to leave. That is not outreach.That is… Read More

Florida is making sure kids can be pulled out of class for religious instruction. Not just for a holiday. Not just to miss school. For religious instruction. And now the state is tightening the rules around it so schools have to have a process for that absence. That should make people furious. Public schools are… Read More

Public officials should be backing school leaders who protect students, not publicly attacking them for doing their job. When an administrator acknowledges that boundaries were crossed and acts to protect all students, that is not weakness. That is leadership. And any elected official who tries to punish, shame, or intimidate public school administrators for doing… Read More

🚨 INDIANA No parent sent their kid to school for this. Not for surprise political messaging.Not for off-script speeches.And definitely not for a captive-audience moment with a sitting politician. Let’s be clear about what happened in Valparaiso: 🔴Families were not notified. 🔴Students were given materials the district admits had no place in the school. 🔴Students… Read More