Public schools; electives on the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament and the New Testament.

Public schools; electives on the Hebrew Scriptures/OldTestament and the New Testament. Requires the Board of Educationto authorize local school boards to offer as an elective in gradesnine through 12 with appropriate credits toward graduation a courseon the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament of the Bible or the New Testamentof the Bible or a combined course on both. The bill requires theBoard of Education to develop Standards of Learning and curriculumguidelines for such courses. The bill provides that the purpose ofsuch courses is to introduce students to biblical content, characters,poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporarysociety and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory,and public policy. The bill prohibits students from being requiredto use a specific translation of a religious text when taking thecourses and provides that such courses shall maintain religious neutralityand shall not endorse, favor, promote, disfavor, or show hostilitytoward any particular religion or nonreligious perspective.