Ohio's public schools are for every student — Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Indigenous, secular, and everything in between. But a bill now moving through the Ohio Senate would change that.

The Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act (HB 486) would require schools to teach the "positive impact of Judeo-Christian values" in American history. Backed by state Rep. Gary Click, a Baptist pastor from northern Ohio, the bill has already passed the state House and is now before the Ohio Senate.

Public schools are funded by all taxpayers and must serve all students equally. When the government requires schools to frame history through one religious lens, it crosses a clear line: the separation of church and state. Public education was never meant to be a platform for any single religious tradition.

Educators say the bill isn't even necessary. "I have never heard of a single teacher in Ohio that says they're afraid to teach any of the content that's in this bill," said Sarah Kaka, president of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies. What worries her is the larger message: "It is such a skewed perspective on history. It's not balanced by any means." Her organization believes in "teaching students not what to think, but how to think."

Ohio students come from families of every background and belief. A law that singles out Judeo-Christian values as uniquely formative sends a message to Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Indigenous, and non-religious students that their traditions matter less. That's not history — that's a hierarchy.

And the stakes go beyond religion. When lawmakers — not educators — decide what version of history children are taught, the classroom becomes a political arena. This sets a precedent with no obvious limit: if one legislature can mandate a favored narrative today, the next can do the same tomorrow.

As state Rep. Sean Brennan, a Catholic Democrat who voted against the bill, said: "We don't need to sow more seeds of division in our country. We've evolved, we're more inclusive, and I think that makes our state and our nation stronger."

We're asking the Ohio Senate to reject the Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act. Keep public schools a place where every student — regardless of their faith — is welcome, respected, and taught to think for themselves.