Ohio Enacts Released Time Program, Effective In September

This weekend, the Cleveland Plain Dealer carried op-ed columns supporting and opposing Ohio House Bill 171 (full text) which was signed into law by the governor last month. (Legis. status report.) The law, which will go into effect in September, allows school districts to approve "released time" programs during which students can be excused from school to attend a program of religious instruction elsewhere. High school students can earn up to two units of course credit for participation in a released time offering.  No public funds or school personnel may be used in the religious instruction.