Commentaries

Week: July 7th - July 11th, 2025

7/7/2025 - Kentucky & The Bible

There are all kinds of opportunities to lawfully and appropriately teach students about America’s religious heritage. For example, Kentucky has a law that declares the following:

“A teacher in a public school shall be permitted to: (1) Teach about religion with the use of the Bible or other scripture, but without providing religious instruction, for the secular study of: The history of religion; Comparative religions; the Bible as literature; the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries; religious influences on art, music, literature, and social studies.”

Surprised? Most teachers across the country have no idea about all the freedom they have.

You can be a gateway to better education for students in your schools. To get a copy of our research on your state’s academic standards click HERE.

7/8/2025 - Texas & Moses

In Texas, students are expected to study the Ten Commandments and their impact on our legal system.

There are all kinds of opportunities to appropriately teach students about America’s religious heritage. For example, the academic standards for Texas expect students to [and I’m quoting], “identify the individuals whose principles of laws and government institutions informed the American founding documents, including those of Moses, William Blackstone, John Locke, and Charles de Montesquieu.”

The reference to Moses means the Ten Commandments.

Surprised? Most teachers across the country have no idea about all the freedom they have.

You can be a gateway to better education for students in your schools. To get a copy of our research on your state’s academic standards, click HERE.

7/9/2025 - The Great Awakening

Can a public school teacher explain the Gospel to students in class? The answer is, Yes.

There are many opportunities to appropriately teach students about America’s religious heritage. For example, many states want students to learn about the Great Awakening – a Christian revival that happened in the 1700s.

Teachers might want to use the History Channel to explain the Great Awakening. It lists the following beliefs taught by preachers during this revival: All people are born sinners; Sin without salvation will send a person to hell; All people can be saved if they confess their sins to God, seek forgiveness and accept God’s grace.

If this is taught academically, not devotionally, there is no problem.

You can be a gateway to better education for students in your schools. To get a copy of our research on your state’s academic standards, click HERE.

7/10/2025 - Mississippi & the Creator

There are a lot of different ways to lawfully and appropriately teach students about America’s religious heritage. For example, every state expects students to learn about the Declaration of Independence. Mississippi’s academic standard for eighth graders says that students need to [and I’m quoting]:

“Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence, with an emphasis on government as a means of protecting individual rights (for example, phrases such as ―all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights).”

What Creator did America’s founders believe in? What is the Creation story? Great questions that teachers can legitimately ask students.

You can be a gateway to better education for students in your schools. To get a copy of our research on your state’s academic standards, visit GoGateways.org/standards.

7/11/2025 - Tennessee & the Gospel

A lot of people think that Christianity isn’t supposed to be taught in public schools. But that is not true. Most states have academic standards that expect students to learn about the faith. For example, the Tennessee Department of Education wants students in sixth grade to [and I’m quoting]:

“Describe the origins and central features of Christianity: Monotheism, the belief in Jesus as the Messiah and God’s Son, the concept of resurrection, the concept of salvation, belief in the Old and New Testaments, [and] the lives, teachings and contributions of Jesus and Paul.”

You can be a gateway to better education for students in your schools. To get a copy of our research on your state’s academic standards, visit GoGateways.org/standards.