By Robbie Sequeira, Stateline.org
In the past month or so, federal courts have dealt a string of blows to conservatives’ push for the biblical Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools.
Yet as states lose over required religious displays, many are working on another route to faith-based education by allowing kids to attend off-campus religious instruction. This year, Iowa , Montana , Ohio and Texas passed laws guaranteeing parents the right to have their children excused during the school day for free, off-campus religious instruction, often called “released time.”
Those four states are the latest of at least 12 that require school districts to offer released time religious schooling upon parental request, including: Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, Penns