Academic Bible Class Enrollment Grows in Arkansas

Religious Freedom, ,

Data from the Arkansas Department of Education shows 264 public school students enrolled in courses to study the Bible academically this year.

In 2013 Arkansas passed Act 1440 by Rep. Denny Altes (R — Fort Smith) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) to let public schools offer elective, academic courses that study “the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, culture, and politics.”

The law says the course must be objective and nonsectarian, and it must meet the same academic standards as other elective courses offered in public schools. Anyone wishing to teach the course must be licensed to teach in the State of Arkansas.

In 2019 the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1016 by Rep. Joe Cloud (R — Russellville), Rep. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville), and Sen. Bob Ballinger (R — Ozark). Act 1016 helped make technical clarifications to Act 1440 of 2013.

Over the past 12 years, different school districts in the state have chosen to offer academic courses on the Bible under this type of official state framework. Now data from the Arkansas Department of Education shows 264 public school students enrolled in elective, academic courses on the Bible at 18 schools this year.

The data indicates the number of students choosing to study the Bible academically at school has grown. Last year, 126 students studied the Bible at 10 different schools in Arkansas, and the year before that 125 students learned about the Bible at seven schools.

Below is a list of school districts offering courses on the Bible this school year.

SCHOOL DISTRICTCOURSENUMBER OF STUDENTS
FOUNDERS CLASSICAL ACADEMIES OF ARKANSASAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)1
VALLEY SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)10
GURDON SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)10
MAGNOLIA SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)13
NETTLETON SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)19
VAN BUREN SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)43
FORDYCE SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)4
MARMADUKE SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)10
HOPE SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)1
DIERKS SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)21
LONOKE SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)24
DEER MT JUDEA SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)3
EAST END SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)17
ACADEMICS PLUS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLSAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)5
PREMIER HIGH SCHOOLS OF ARKANSASAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)1
BRYANT SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)59
SEARCY COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTAcademic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)10
SOUTH SIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT (Van Buren)Academic Study of the Bible (0.5 credit)13

Courts have said the U.S. Constitution does not prevent public school students from being taught about the Bible and its significance throughout human history, provided that the instruction is neutral and educational.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1980 Stone v. Graham decision went so far as to say, “the Bible may constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like.”

This year lawmakers passed S.B. 223, the Religious Rights at Public School Act by Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs). This good law affirms public school students’ and teachers’ religious liberties.

The law does not create any new rights or freedoms, but it does identify existing religious freedoms that are already protected by state and federal law — such as the freedom to pray, discuss religion, or read the Bible during free time at school.

The law also highlights the freedom that schools have to offer academic courses on the Bible under Act 1440 of 2013.

S.B. 223 does not change any laws about the academic study of the Bible in Arkansas, but it does help draw attention to the fact that state law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings let public schools offer these elective courses. It passed with strong support in the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House, and Gov. Sanders signed it into law last month as Act 400 of 2025.

It’s good to see Arkansas’ schools offering these academic courses on the Bible to students across the state. After all, no single book has been more influential over our civilization than the Bible.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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U.K. to Perform Mental Health Evaluations on Children with Gender Dysphoria

Transgender, ,

The U.K.’s National Health Services reportedly will start advising clinics to assess children who identify as transgender for mental health problems and other conditions.

The new guidelines come in the wake of the U.K.’s decision to shutter its transgender clinic in 2022 and stop giving puberty blockers to children last year.

A government investigation revealed healthcare professionals at the NHS’s Tavistock gender clinic pressured families into subjecting their children to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

Since then, medical professionals have written extensively about the harm that these gender-reassignment procedures caused.

Under the new NHS guidelines, children in the U.K. with gender dysphoria would be assessed for ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, or mental health problems. These assessments could help identify underlying causes of a child’s gender dysphoria.

All of this underscores why it is so important that lawmakers in Arkansas overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act in 2021.

The SAFE Act is a good law that prevents doctors in Arkansas from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

Since then, reports from Europe and elsewhere have shown time and again that Arkansas was right to pass the SAFE Act.

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court since 2021. However, we believe our courts ultimately will recognize that the SAFE Act is a good law and uphold it as constitutional.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Planned Parenthood PAC Files Activity Report, Opposes Good Legislation in Arkansas

Legislation,

Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood’s political action committee for Arkansas filed a report with the secretary of state showing the organization did not spend any money campaigning in Arkansas from January through March of this year.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortionist. In 2024, the organization endorsed two candidates running for the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2020, Planned Parenthood Federation announced it would spend at least $45 million working to unseat pro-life lawmakers and elect candidates who support abortion. As part of that plan, the group used its political action committee (PAC) to support candidates for state and federal office in Arkansas.

With that said, Planned Parenthood’s Arkansas PAC spent no money campaigning in Arkansas during the first quarter of 2025. However, the organization did actively oppose good bills at the legislature.

In a document published online, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Arkansas made statements against S.B. 444 and H.B. 1678 — two bills Family Council strongly supported.

S.B. 444 by Sen. Kim Hammer (R — Benton) and Rep. Lee Johnson (R — Greenwood) is a good law that strengthens the healthcare workers’ rights of conscience law Arkansas passed in 2021.

Among other things, this law adds whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, and it helps protect all medical professionals from having their rights of conscience violated.

S.B. 444 passed with strong support at the Arkansas Legislature and has been signed into law as Act 970 of 2025.

H.B. 1678 is a good bill by Rep. Wayne Long (R — Bradford) and Sen. John Payton (R — Wilburn) that would strengthen Arkansas’ Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

The bill would have increased the penalty for selling or prescribing illegal abortion-inducing drugs, and it would have made it easier to take a person to court for violating the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.

All of this would have provided additional options for enforcing Arkansas’ pro-life laws.

H.B. 1678 did not come up for a vote at the legislature, but lawmakers did refer it for interim study — meaning the legislature will have opportunities to meet and discuss the bill, but will not vote on it.

On the whole, Arkansas’ lawmakers are very pro-life, and Planned Parenthood’s opposition did not stop legislators from passing S.B. 444 or choosing to continue discussions on H.B. 1678.

Planned Parenthood’s PAC has a little over $11,500 at its disposal for the 2026 election cycle. Time will tell what role the organization might play in Arkansas in the coming months.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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