It has long been an option for schools to release students from school for part of the day to receive religious instruction, and districts have chosen to exercise that option or not as they see fit. The bill proposed on Ohio makes one simple change--instead of "may," the law would read "shall."
In other words, if parents demand their child be released for religious instruction, the schools must comply.
A key focus has been LifeWise Academy, an organization that has been capitalizing on the original Supreme Court ruling by delivering Bible study during the school day. Their focus is called The Gospel Project, and it is aimed at encouraging "true transformation that comes only from the gospel, not from behavior modification." Every session is "doctrinally sound and thorough," though whose doctrine, exactly, it follows is not made clear.
LifeWise is the brainchild of Joel Penton, who was a defensive tackle for the Ohio State football team. He graduated in 2007 (BA in Communications and Media Studies), then after what appears to be a two year gap, Penton got into the Christian Speakers Biz, starting Relevant Speakers Network, Stand for Truth Outreach, and LifeWise Academy, all based in Hilliard, Ohio.
Stand for Truth was an earlier version of the release time Bible study model as well as school assemblies, with a filed purpose of assisting "youth, youth organizations, schools and churches by providing seminars, educational materials, inspirational and motivational materials, books and other programs to help youth reach their full potential."
The LifeWise 990 shows that it is, for legal purposes, a Stand for Truth under a new name, with the purpose unchanged. At SfT, Penton was drawing an $87K salary to handle a million-and-a-half dollar budget. The 2022 990 for LifeWise shows Penton with $41K in salary and $69K in other compensation, while LifeWise is handling $13 mill on revenue (more than double 2022) from "contributions, gifts, grants" and paying almost $6 mill in employee benefits and compensation to... I don't know. The only other paid officials listed are Steve Clifton (COO) with $108K salary and $57K other, and treasurer David Kirkey with $31K salary. Almost $5 mill is listed as other salaries and wages, including program service expenses. They list no lobbying expense, but some mid-six figure numbers for advertising, office expenses, and travel. In all they took in almost $14 mill and spent about $9.5 mill.
Board members include Rev. Stephen Hubbard, pastor at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Logan, Ohio; Brad Hulls, a real estate agent "and remodeling specialist" from Columbus. Figuring in the group's history is Tim Stoller, a founding board member for Cross Over The Hill, an organization with a similar message. It was Stoller who approached Penton, leading to a combining of Stand for Truth and Cross Over The Hill to form LifeWise Academy.
LifeWise has expanded to multiple states, and it's their work that the new Ohio bill is primarily aimed at, by requiring every school in Ohio to offer a LifeWise option (or something like it).
LifeWise has not experienced large growth by playing softball. One school board member recounted a story of being approached by LifeWise, first pleasantly, and then with veiled threats about re-election. "As a church, we can't endorse political candidates, but we can educate people." And last summer LifeWise got in a big fight with an Indiana father who volunteered for the group so that he could gain access to their materials, which he then posted on his website. LifeWise took him to court. The parent made a point that ought to be familiar to the culture panic crowd--that parents ought to be able to review the materials that were being used with students. LifeWise has also gone after a man who created a map showing the locations of LifeWise schools.
The Akron Beacon Journal is among those opposing the proposed law, calling it "a dangerous crack forming in the wall that separates church and state."
Release time for religious instruction is a problem beyond simply breaking down the wall between church and state (though that is problematic enough). It also requires school officials to decide which part of a child's education is expendable enough that it can be replaced with religious instruction. Supporters have argued, "Well, they shouldn't be pulled from core classes" which brings us back to the old problem of labeling the arts, recess, even lunch time as unimportant parts of school, despite everything we know about the value of the arts, of free play, and even the social bonds built in the cafeteria. It creates two classes of students and has the effect of holding students up for social stigma based on their beliefs. Not to mention the issue of an outside entity that gives adults access and oversight of children that is not subject to state oversight.
It's a bad idea to force this on districts that don't want it (and not a great one for those that do) but Ohio has shown great determination to make itself the Florida of the Midwest. We'll see how this goes.
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