Excerpt
The following ran on Worldmag.com Nov. 14, 2011. Mark Chancey, religious studies professor, provided expertise for this story.
November 17, 2011
By Alicia Constant
Economic troubles are causing public school districts in Georgia to cut Bible education courses, five years after the state became the first to allow the controversial elective.
Superintendents say budget cuts require some classes to have more than 25 students before the classes are affordable. Unlike past years, students have tougher math standards to meet and more Advanced Placement courses....
Mark Chancey, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University, said teachers have “very few suitable curricular resources.” The Bible and Its Influence is too expensive for some districts, he said, and the NCBCPS curriculum has what he called an “overt bias toward conservative Protestant theology.” Liberals have slammed the NCBCPS textbook for, among other things, listing Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.