COLUMBUS, Ohio – Educators would be allowed to teach about the positive impact of Christianity on American history under a new legislation in the Ohio House — something proponents say teachers now hold back on out of fear.
House Bill 486, known as the Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act, “removes the invisible shackles that often hinder full transparency and teaching of American history,” sponsor Rep. Gary Click, a Sandusky County Republican who recently stepped down after a 30-year career as a pastor, said during a hearing on Tuesday.
Rep. Mike Dovilla, a Berea Republican, is co-sponsoring HB 486 with Click.
In testimony Tuesday, the sponsors argued that many teachers currently shy away from talking about Christianity for fear of being accused of proselytizing.
The bill is the latest from the Ohio General Assembly to allow more open discussion of religion in public schools.
Sponsors of all the bills say the legislation is structured in ways that don’t endorse religion.
Other religious bills include Senate Bill 34, which would allow “historical educational” documents, including the Ten Commandments, to be displayed in classrooms. HB 187 would change the state law that allows schools to have a daily moment of silence to requiring one. Just last week lawmakers sent to Gov. Mike DeWine a bill that would expand released time for religious instruction, in which students can leave school in the middle of the day for faith classes off campus.
HB 486 was named after Kirk since he was fatally shot in September for his beliefs, Click argued to members of the Ohio House Education Committee for the bill’s first hearing.
“Charlie Kirk was known for being a conservative, and Charlie Kirk was also known for being a Christian,” he said. “And Charlie often brought to light those historical facts from our history, and people didn’t like to hear that. And I think that incited hate amongst some people, and that incited violence.“
Dovilla said that American democracy is rooted in principles that came from Christianity.
“The very moral vocabulary of the modern West, our understanding of equality, compassion, and the sanctity of every human life, flows directly from the Christian worldview, whether one professes that faith or not,” he said.
The bill would apply to traditional public and charter schools.
Democrats were skeptical of the bill.
State Rep. Sean Brennan, a Parma Democrat who taught high school social studies for three decades, said that American history teachers constantly share with students the religious underpinnings of American history, from Frederick Douglass’ writings to a letter President George Washington wrote to members of a synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island.
“When you teach American history, you can’t get around talking about religion,” he said.
Brennan asked Click if any of the teachers will testify who hold back teaching about Christianity.
“I don’t know if the teachers who are afraid are going to be willing to come up here and stand up here and say, ‘Hey, I’m afraid I might get fired by my superintendent.’ Or if the superintendent’s going to come up here and say, ‘Yeah, I told Rep. Click, we can’t teach that,’” Click said. “I can’t guarantee you that they’re going to show up. But I can tell you that I have heard those experiences firsthand.”
Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, a suburban Columbus Democrat, asked the sponsors about the First Amendment implications of the bill.
“The religion part of the First Amendment has two parts to it: the freedom to exercise and the freedom from the government establishing any one religion,” Piccolantonio said. “This bill only talks about Christianity so I’m trying to sort out how this specific legislation would not violate the establishment clause.”
Click said that the focus is on Christianity simply because many Christian religious groups fled Europe and settled in the U.S. The bill would not allow teachers to say that Christianity is superior to other faiths. “The reason it focuses on Christianity is those are the complaints I’ve received personally,” he said.
Laura Hancock is an award-winning politics and policy reporter in Columbus for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. She primarily covers K-12 schools, higher education and child care. She also occasionally…
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