Higher Learning

In a rickety trailer parked near Thomas Edison Elementary School in Anaheim, nine children sit at tiny wooden desks and listen intently to a lesson from the Old Testament.

At the head of the class--where she has stood for nearly half a century--is Helen Colburn, 69. Wearing large tinted eyeglasses and a bright pink pantsuit, she puts down the yellowed lesson plans, holds up a battered placard covered with Christian lyrics and leads the children in a song: “Happiness is the Lord.”

Only six feet from the edge of the public school campus, the class is at the same time in another world: here, under the auspices of a church group that is part of a long-standing nationwide practice, children are learning about the Bible.

More than 1,200 children in the Anaheim school district participate in what is known as “released-time” religious education. With parental permission, children are released once a week from regular classes--most often in such subjects as computers or art--to study religious subjects. Anaheim’s program is the biggest in California, organizers say.

Although critics have concerns that such programs breach the constitutional separation of church and state, even First Amendment purists agree they are legal: in California, for example, state law allows students to receive up to four hours of off-campus religious instruction a month.

And by operating in trailers that travel from campus to campus but stay carefully off school grounds--even hooking up to independent sources of electricity--the programs stay clear of rules against state support of religion, organizers and school officials say.

The loudest complaints tend to come from teachers, who worry that students are missing school--but even they have learned to live with the program.

Leading the Anaheim program for nearly 50 years has been Colburn, director since 1991 of the Assn. of Christian Churches of Anaheim.

Colburn decided to teach in the released-time program 46 years ago, when she moved to Anaheim with her husband, Donald, who is a retired schoolteacher. Colburn has four grown children who all live in California and seven grandchildren.

“I do feel that this was God’s plan for me,” said Colburn. “I’d often thought I’d like to be a missionary. This gave me the opportunity to do it in our own backyard.”

Colburn said the program’s aim is to teach morality in a curriculum devoid of religious instruction. Although the program is officially nondenominational, Colburn is clear about her purpose in teaching a Christian interpretation of the Bible.

“I want them to accept Jesus in their hearts,” she said. “Many of these children don’t attend church.”

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Released-time religious education dates to 1914 in Gary, Ind., where the first program began. The programs mushroomed after the Supreme Court barred compulsory prayer in public schools in 1962, according to John Atkinson, president of the National Assn. of Released-Time Christian Education, based in Long Beach.

The released-time programs declined in the 1970s, in part because many families moved their children into Christian schools and in part because of a growing number of new suburban schools with no tradition of released-time education, Atkinson said. Today, more than 350,000 students nationwide participate in Christian released-time programs.

In California, a network of church educators have organized to sponsor Bible teaching for local elementary schoolchildren.

“Released-time is a concept that can be used by any religious group that takes the time to organize a program and get permission from the district to do it,” Atkinson said. “For parents who are interested in having their child learn biblically-based morals and ethics, it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

Other religious groups--including Mormons in Idaho and Utah, and Muslims in Los Angeles--have organized such programs as well, Atkinson said.

The nonprofit Assn. of Christian Churches of Anaheim--made up of local churches--has quietly sponsored extracurricular religious education in its elementary schools for more than 56 years. With six aging trailers that move from campus to campus and 18 part-time teachers, the program serves 28 elementary schools.

Relying on private donors and contributions from area churches, the association pays teachers an average of $6 an hour. Other costs include a full-time employee who moves the trailers from school to school, $300 a month for gas and $6,000 a year in liability insurance. The association’s total annual budget is $40,000.

The program’s curriculum has been the same every year: Old Testament for the 4th graders and New Testament for the 5th graders. Colburn said that Jewish children are welcome to participate in the program, although they rarely do, but she’s had Muslim children who have had parental approval to attend.

Advocates for separation of church and state say released-time religious education programs are acceptable--if everyone plays by the rules.

“It’s permissible only if the classes are held off campus and school officials do not encourage or discourage participation,” said Elizabeth Shredder, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Bible educators in the program admit to wanting to inject some religion into the secular curriculum of public schools.

“What motivated me most of all was when religion was taken out of all public schools,” said Ingrid Popke, 58, who has taught in Anaheim’s released-time program for 21 years. “I was heartbroken that the children were not going to grow up with moral values in their education.”

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Although some teachers and administrators grumble about having to parade children approved for released-time education off and back on to campus, many say the program is popular with children and parents alike and is carefully executed.

“I haven’t heard any concerns from the parents,” said Yolanda Castillo, principal of Thomas Edison Elementary, where more than 40 children take part in the program. “Parents are aware that their children will be missing some subjects during the day.”

At Castillo’s school, teachers agreed to schedule core subjects--including math and English--in the morning. This means students participating in the afternoon religious training miss elective classes such as computer or art.

Administrators for participating schools say they carefully plan what subjects will be missed so that the children will still be fully prepared for standardized tests.

“The teachers work around it and the kids can make up the work,” said Sherry Opacic, principal for Albert Schweitzer Elementary School, which has six students in the program.

Still, “We have a couple schools that are not supportive,” said Colburn. “It’s an imposition for some teachers to have kids leave their classrooms each week.”

But the children in Colburn’s program are enthusiastic about the Bible studies. Eleven-year-old Josie Pacheco, for example, listened with rapt attention to a lecture on Esther.

“I don’t care if I miss computer class,” said Pacheco, who wears a Pooh-bear T-shirt and a gold cross necklace.

The looming concern for Castillo isn’t skimping on academics, it’s the condition of the trailer near her school, worn out after 40 years of children going in and out for classes.

Colburn acknowledges the problem. “We’ve had broken windows in the trailer and gang graffiti painted on the sides,” she said, lamenting its dilapidated condition.

The brown rug on the trailer floor is frayed, the kids’ artwork and fake wood paneling on the walls are sun-bleached and the portable cassette player Colburn uses to play music is held together with duct tape.

Colburn said that a donor has agreed to purchase a new trailer for the program. In the meantime, she’ll continue to lead the children up the blue stairstep and into her mobile ministry, where she can share her love of God with the children of Anaheim.