Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed a bill Tuesday allowing Bible courses to be taught in public schools.
The bill allows local school boards the option of developing a class for students to understand the role the Bible played in American history, according to WDRB-TV. The class would be an elective.
“The idea that we would not want this to be an option for people in school, that would be crazy. I don’t know why every state would not embrace this, why we as a nation would not embrace this,” Bevin, who is a Republican, said during a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.
Rep. D.J. Johnson, R-Owensboro, sponsored the bill and said the Bible was the foundation for the developments of the Declaration of Independence and other important documents in U.S. history.
The measure had easily passed the state House and Senate.
The ACLU of Kentucky said it was concerned about how the courses would be implemented.
“A Bible literacy bill that, on its face, may not appear to be unconstitutional, could in fact become unconstitutional in its implementation,” Advocacy Director Kate Miller told WDRB-TV. “We want to make sure that teachers can teach and make sure that they don’t go in to preach.”
Johnson said as the curriculum is carefully developed, there should not be “constitutional issues.”
The legislation is set to go into effect Friday.
