By Rhyne Piggott, USA TODAY

The South Dakota state legislators ignited both ire and support last week with their discussion of the role of the Bible in public school curricula. The state’s House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution that encourages school districts to add an elective class on the academic study of the Bible to their course catalogs.

Though the discussion before approval of the resolution in the South Dakota House was brief, this measure has incensed many in the national discourse who fear that the measure will force students to pray in school. Critics of this measure fear that encouraging schools to teach classes in Biblical knowledge will favor Christian students and assumptions over ideas from other religions.

The measure is in decided contrast to most education mandates, which dangle federal funding to promote the whims of mandated tests or the agendas of legislators far from the classroom.

South Dakota’s resolution does not carry the weight of law and encourages only that schools consider offering a non-mandatory class in the fact, not the religiosity, of the Bible. The resolution is a demonstration of much-needed autonomy from the federal government and education administrators far from South Dakota classrooms.

This resolution is an exercise in how local government ought to work. Citizens of South Dakota voted for these representatives to promote their most important platforms and values in the legislature. Though other states may disagree, South Dakota has every right and many justifications for encouraging the academic study of Christianity as a historical and cultural influence. Their constituents decide whether to re-elect the leaders that made these academic decisions.

The organizers of this resolution were particular to note that they did not want this measure to carry the weight of law. Representative Steve Hickey, the measure’s chief sponsor, explicitly stated he did think the state legislature should be dictating to local school boards what to teach in their classrooms and how. This further underscores the importance of this measure as return to principles of local government and school autonomy.

Broad mandates regarding what can and cannot be taught by local districts continue to be handed down by state legislators, most notably in Texas, robbing local leaders of the ability to make decisions tailored to their students and the families in their local populace.

The federal government is particularly guilty of passing laws for the entire country based on their particular whims and motivations. South Dakota’s resolution is a refreshing gesture that places greater importance with local government and school autonomy. The citizens of South Dakota have every right to encourage academic study in subjects that they value, even if other states or federal leaders find them distasteful. Any state or local government should be free to offer a completely optional class in the academic study of Islamic beliefs and historical influence, Eastern religions, or whatever other realm of learning its local citizens value.

Critics of this bill who call to ban the teaching of the Bible in school are in curious contrast to critics of elective courses in ethnic studies. It is rarely the same voices who seek to ban studying the Bible as those who seek to ban the study of history and culture from the perspective of any particular societal segment.

Greater power in local government, like legislators are promoting in South Dakota, allows citizens in each respective area to decide what ought to be taught in schools in their community.

Neither ethnic studies nor Biblical inquiry should be mandated or banned by a state or federal government. In the interest of a stronger school system and a stronger, more free nation, districts must be free to provide their students options in the academic study of as many books, cultures and historical influences as possible. This includes ethnic studies, the Bible and any other realm of learning the local citizens choose as important.

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