Odessa gearing up for public school Bible classes

05/01/2006

Associated Press

Dozens of students have already signed up and district administrators are testing a pilot course as a West Texas school district prepares to offer a high school class on the Bible, officials said.

The Ector County Independent School District approved the elective course in December, despite opposition from critics who condemned the course as Christian proselytizing instead of education.

About 60 students from two high schools have signed up for the course, which will be offered next fall, district spokesman Mike Adkins said. The semester's schedule includes the class for each period of the day, but that could change depending on demand, he said.

"It just brings forth a new learning experience. We need that in our high schools," said Vanessa Chavez, an Odessa High School sophomore who helped gather some 6,000 petition signatures supporting the course.

Joe Gallegos, the district's deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction, is teaching an online version of the class to district administrators. The test run is an opportunity to examine content for the class as well as training for a possible online version of the course, he said.

Ian Roark, the district's social studies coordinator, is taking the online version of the course to test out the curriculum. He described the course as "non-devotional" with a focus on history and culture related to the Bible.

The district selected a course developed by North Carolina-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools that uses the King James version of the Bible.

Critics said the selection showed favoritism toward Protestant Christianity.

Roark, who will oversee the implementation of the course, said students can use any version of the Bible they're comfortable with.

"Basically you are free to use whatever version of the Bible you and your family would like for you to use as a student," he said.

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Information from: Odessa American, http://www.oaoa.com