Veteran Will Keep Fighting for Bible Course in California School District
by Jim Brown
March 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - A California school board has rejected a popular elective Bible course being offered in public schools across the United States. Korean War veteran Glenn Stankis and some local pastors in Paradise, California, recently requested that Paradise High School adopt the nationally known elective "The Bible in History and Literature." But the Paradise Unified School District Board unanimously said no to the course from the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.
Stankis feels the popular Bible course offers students important information and insight on a document that has had major influence on American culture and history. He points out that similar Bible-related courses have been offered for credit by dozens of other high schools around the Golden State.
However, the Paradise resident says he encountered problems, including resistance from school superintendent Steve Jennings. "Early on he declared that a Bible course was not suitable for the school classroom," Stankis says. But the opposition did not end there, he notes, adding, "Second was the teacher's union coming out against this. And I guess the most decisive action was when the editorial board of the local newspaper came out and supported the superintendent."
The U.S. military veteran proposed that the local high schools incorporate "The Bible in History in Literature" into its curriculum after the board prohibited a moment of silence in the district schools following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and also -- at the request of the local teachers union -- banned prayers at the beginning of their meetings. He still maintains the elective is a much-needed addition.
"This course reveals how the Bible, which is a primary source document, has influenced the development and the cultural and historical events in America, as well as other Western countries and civilizations," Stankis says. He adds that he and other proponents of the Bible course will be working to change the current composition of the Paradise School Board in hopes of getting the class approved in the future.
According to the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, its Bible course curriculum has been voted into 292 school districts in 35 states -- and 92 percent of school boards that have been approached thus far have voted to implement it.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a news reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
