High school test question: How old is the Utica shale formation that Ohio is drilling for oil and natural gas?
Answer: 6,000 years, just like the Bible says.
According to critics, HB 164, the Ohio Student Religious Liberties Act of 2019—which every single Republican in the Ohio House of Representatives and two of its Democrats voted for—would bar teachers from dinging that answer, which is 444 million years off the mark, if the student claims “sincerely held religious beliefs” for making it. And this would apply to all science tests. For example, under this belief, astronomers couldn’t possibly be right about the Andromeda Galaxy being 2.5 million light-years distant from the Milky Way.
One of the critics is Gary Daniels, the chief lobbyist for the ACLU of Ohio. He told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the bill would protect students’ religious rights, a good thing. But it also would keep teachers from taking off points for answers that conflict with science, stating that they “shall not penalize or reward a student based on the religious content of a student’s work,” he said. And that’s far from what education should be about. That’s also the view of Amber Epling, a spokeswoman for Ohio House Democrats.
Obviously, the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Timothy Ginter, doesn’t agree. He said allowing more religious self-expression will be positive, though he did not refer to any instances in Ohio schools when there have been obstacles thrown up against any student focus on religious issues or religious personalities in their classwork. He said that under his proposal students must still accurately reflect what is taught in class—for instance, the evolution segment of a biology class—even if the student doesn’t believe in evolution. “[Their work] will be graded using ordinary academic standards of using substance and relevance,” he said.
That may seem harmless, but if HB 164 becomes law, it could very well have a chilling effect on how students are graded. As noted at IFLScience:
A teacher faced with a paper claiming the Sun goes around the Earth might have trouble marking it, not knowing if the student belonged to a cult that holds this view, or simply hadn't been paying attention in class.
Ginter, who rather appropriately represents Salem, justified the law by describing the pressures students face from drug use, depression, and suicide. It appears to be his sincerely held belief this legislation will help, although it is less clear how.
The bill has now moved to the 33-member Ohio Senate, which includes just nine Democrats.