By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A study says 60 public school districts across Texas now offer courses on the Bible. But at least a third aren't meeting state requirements to be unbiased and academically and legally sound.
Written by Southern Methodist University Professor Mark Chancey, the study found that many districts' courses favor conservative Protestant interpretations of the Bible.
Many also present "problematic treatment of Judaism" and promote "pseudo-scholarship" on science and U.S. history.
Chancey presented the study Wednesday. He completed it for the Texas Freedom Network, which monitors the State Board of Education from a progressive perspective.
Statewide, 57 districts and three charter schools offered elective courses on the Bible during the 2011-2012 school year.
Chancey listed 11 of them as having the most-successful classes, but concluded that 20 were the "most problematic courses."
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