Written by Jason Ellis
The Boone County School Board recently declined to consider LifeWise Academy’s proposal to allow students to leave class for weekly Bible study. The request was made possible by a new Kentucky law permitting one hour of “moral instruction” during the school day. LifeWise, an Ohio-based nonprofit, has expanded across several states by offering Bible-based classes to public school students. Supporters frame the program as values education, but its curriculum is explicitly religious, raising questions about whether it fits within the same ideological debates that have surrounded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Conservative lawmakers have argued that DEI programs divide students and politicize education. Just last year, Kentucky’s legislature passed new restrictions on DEI initiatives at public colleges and universities, and, in the past weeks, Sen. Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield) presented a draft of a bill to end DEI in K-12 schools to the Interim Joint Committee on Education, stating “DEI reinforces division rather than unity, and encourages students, teachers and staff to see each other through the lens of identity and creating group think instead of creating independent thinkers.” Yet LifeWise’s model is also inherently ideological, privileging a particular religious worldview. If neutrality is the standard, then I believe LifeWise deserves the same scrutiny as DEI.
To me, the fairness issue is clear. Critics of DEI have argued time and again that it privileges minority perspectives. But LifeWise privileges majority-Christian perspectives, does it not? Both elevate one worldview over others. If conservatives reject DEI because it privileges one group, consistency would suggest they should apply the same reasoning to LifeWise. Otherwise, the principle is applied selectively, no?
Parental rights are another dimension to carefully consider. Opponents of DEI argue that parents should decide what moral or cultural instruction their children receive. In fact, the issue of parental rights for their childrens’ educations is a perennial favorite of conservatives. But LifeWise imposes a framework that not all parents share. Though voluntary and framed as “opt in,” families who do not identify with LifeWise’s religious commitments may feel excluded, effectively forcing parents to choose between social pressures directed at their children and their own preferred home philosophies. For the issue to be legitimate and truly matter, protecting parental rights should mean protecting all families, not just those aligned with one ideology.
Finally, there is the constitutional issue. Courts have long been cautious about religious instruction in public schools. DEI programs may raise political questions, but LifeWise raises direct Establishment Clause concerns. Allowing students to leave class for Bible study blurs the line between public education and religious endorsement. In order to not endorse LifeWise’s religious positioning, school systems would be compelled to offer equitable, alternative opportunities in moral education. Boone County’s rejection reflects awareness of this tension.
In reflecting on these points, Boone County’s decision highlights how difficult it is to separate ideology from education. Both DEI and LifeWise are attempts to shape identity and values, albeit in different directions. The stated goal of anti-DEI initiatives is neutrality, but if neutrality is truly the goal, then consistency has to matter. Otherwise, the debate risks becoming less about neutrality and more about privileging one worldview – one identity – over another, leading to the divisions and groupthink the conservative majority seems so concerned to avoid. If there’s no room for DEI programs in Kentucky’s schools, there cannot be room for moral instruction like LifeWise either.