Bible Bill Subject To AG’s Interpretation Now

The issue of whether or not Texas high schools must offer an elective bible class if 15 students make such a request has been handed off from the Texas Education Commission to the Attorney General’s Office:

Of course, there is debate among legislators who fought over the bill over whether or not the 15-student rule is mandatory or not:

But Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott has called on Abbott to referee one of the bill’s most contentious points: Are public high schools required to offer a Bible course if at least 15 students request it?

The bill’s author, Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, and Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, who carried the legislation in the Senate, emphatically contend it was intended to obligate school districts to offer the course in high schools if the 15-student threshold is met.

“If a certain number of students request it, yes, they must do it. I don’t think if a group gets together and says, ‘Yes, we want to do this,’ the school system should have to say, ‘No, you can’t,’” Estes said.

Chisum also referred to a separate State Board of Education rule requiring school districts to offer courses if requested by 10 students.

But Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, an acknowledged expert on public education issues, said the mandatory provisions of the bill were removed before it passed.

“It’s totally permissive,” Hochberg said. “There is no course requirement. Under the rules of legislative construction, I don’t know any other way to read it.”

So, why is there a conflict that TEA thinks they need Abbott’s intervention for? According to Hochberg, it’s a cut-and-dry issue.

Evidently, it is all in the wording in the bill:

The bill says school districts “may” offer the course to high school students. But the word “shall” shows up in another section.

I suspect that the AG will rule on the side of making school districts offer the bible classes since, after all, he has a right-wing base to appeal to. I also suspect he’ll partially throw things back in the lap of the Legislature and tell them to fix the wording next time around.

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Written by Vince Leibowitz

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