Published: November 03, 2009 10:34 pm      

Toeing the church-state line

Local educators learn guidelines for using Christianity in schools

Summit — Educators on Tuesday learned guidelines for use of religion in public schools and how to legally incorporate Judeo-Christian concepts into many subjects.

“I want to make sure educators stay within the guidelines of the law, and stay within what’s academically appropriate,” said Eric Buehrer, founder and president of Gateways to Better Education, an organization that supports the use of Christian concepts in teaching.

Teachers and administrators came to Buehrer’s all-day workshop from Ashland, Boyd County, Russell, Greenup County, Fairview, Carter, Lawrence County, Raceland-Worthington and other districts.

“I think it’s important from an administrative standpoint to protect schools,” said Hatcher Elementary School Principal David Greene.

The workshop helped clarify state law, important because teachers sometimes don’t know their legal position, he said.

On its Web site, Gateways to Better Education says it is “dedicated to helping public schools teach Judeo-Christian history, thought and values,” and that the organization sees public schools as “learning communities enriched by the appropriate and lawful expression of Christian values and ideas, and educators teaching about the contribution Christians and Christianity have made and continue to make to America and the world.”

Buehrer said teachers may teach about the resurrection of Christ, for instance, as long as they don’t make it “an evangelistic appeal.”

They also may have students sing traditional Christmas carols and read about Jesus, as long as the reading and singing is presented as cultural education and not devotional, he said.

Because the life and teachings of Jesus had such a wide and dramatic impact on history, “it would be an odd omission” not to teach about it, he said.

He encouraged teachers to stock books with Judeo-Christian themes and to use them in reading programs like Accelerated Reader.

Teachers also could cite famous Christian authors like C.S. Lewis and discuss the religious themes in their books, he said.

In science classes teachers may explain the limits of science and point out that science is not the only way to explain natural phenomena.

In health, teachers may use Christian concepts in discussions of dating and marriage, mental health and psychology and decision making.

The difficulty some Christian teachers have is keeping their spiritual natures in check, according to Buehrer. “Teachers who are Christians sometimes lead with their hearts instead of their heads,” he said. The key is to use religious themes in an academically appropriate way and stop short of evangelizing.

Learning the legal limits is essential, said Mickey Rice, an assistant superintendent in the Boyd County district. “We need to know what we can do and what we cannot do,” he said. “We want as much flexibility as we can have to meet the wishes of the district but to be legal and not create a liability.”

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.