NC Republican lawmakers use religion as an excuse to degrade public education | Opinion

One hundred years ago this month, a high school science teacher stood trial for teaching evolution. The Scopes Monkey Trial became a defining clash between modern education and religious fundamentalism.

It was 1925. But in North Carolina, it may as well be today.



This year, the legislature passed House Bill 805. On its face, it’s about religious accommodation. In reality, it’s a vague and dangerous attempt to censor public school classrooms. The bill allows a parent to opt their child out of any lesson that imposes a “substantial burden” on their religious beliefs.

However, the bill never defines what qualifies as a “substantial burden.” Is it evolution? The Civil Rights Movement? A novel with a gay character? A history lesson on the Holocaust that conflicts with someone’s fringe theology? We don’t know. What we do know is that teachers will be forced to guess, administrators will face complaints, and students will suffer from a patchwork of disrupted instruction and politicized lessons.



If this sounds familiar, it should. The Scopes Trial was about whether teachers could share scientific knowledge without government interference. A century later, North Carolina has crafted legislation resurrecting that fight under a new name. But this time, the state isn’t just tolerating censorship — it’s encouraging it.



But HB 805 adds a modern twist: the bill only applies to public schools. Private schools, now receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded vouchers, are exempt. So, while the bill sponsors claim that HB 805 is important, it’s clearly not so important as to trouble private school operators and their campaign contributions.



The bill even mandates that schools provide alternative lessons for students who opt out, but provides no additional funding, staff or space. It’s an unfunded mandate that sets up our public schools to fail.



It didn’t start this way. The bill began as a bipartisan effort to protect women and children from exploitation. But it was hijacked in the Senate by the same Republicans that brought us North Carolina’s infamous “bathroom bill.” They tacked on unrelated, divisive language and turned it into a vehicle for culture war grievances.



Governor Josh Stein was right to veto this bill. We don’t need legislation that uses religion as a smokescreen for attacking teachers, undermining schools and dividing communities. We need real support for public education and the people who make it work every day.

North Carolina has long prided itself on its commitment to education. We built world-class universities, pioneered early college and dual enrollment programs and invested in public schools as engines of mobility. That legacy is now under threat — not just from underfunding, but from coordinated efforts to weaken public schools in favor of private alternatives that face little oversight and even fewer requirements.



Religious freedom is a core American value. But so is education. And we shouldn’t have to choose between the two. Let’s leave the Scopes Trial in the history books, where it belongs.

This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC Republican lawmakers use religion as an excuse to degrade public education | Opinion."