After attacking a new state law allowing public school students to leave campus during the school day for outside religious instruction, Huntsville City School Board member Andrea Alvarez doubled down on her criticism in a social media exchange with State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) on Tuesday.
The dispute between Alvarez and the legislator followed an 1819 News story highlighting her position on the law that was later posted to the new source's Facebook page. Yarbrough replied to the post, discrediting Alvarez's view.
“For too long we have failed to see the existing religious instruction in our public schools," wrote Yarbrough. "We traded an explicit Western Christian education tradition for a humanistic relativism that is still every bit as religious. All education systems are inherently religious - they teach kids where they come from, who they are, and where they are going. I am glad to have voted for this legislation and hope it will help turn Alabama’s public education back to the foundations it once meaningfully and faithfully rested on - Western Christianity.”
He continued, “If we do not return to our roots, the West will go up in flames - which is no doubt the aim of those we have allowed to subvert our education systems. May God give us courage to stand.”
Alvarez responded to Yarbrough, accusing him of lacking personal experience on issues pertinent to public schools.
“How would you know?! You were homeschooled, and now you homeschool," sneered Alvarez. "You have no idea what happens in our beautiful schools.”
Yarbrough discounted Alvarez's comment, noting his established advocacy for public education across the state.
“You have no idea where else I went to school, nor where I have taught," said Yarbrough. "Nor how I have supported, been involved with, or helped Alabama’s public schools or its curriculum. And neither does your straw man response change the truth of that or my assertions."
The lawmaker then contended that all education is "inherently religious."
"It is a fact - all education is inherently religious, and I will not buy into the lie that was used to neuter Western Christians that it was even remotely possible to have an education system 'objectively removed from religion,'" he stated.
Yarbrough added, "The fact that anyone thinks that schools could only ever teach reading, writing, and arithmetic without teaching morality, meaning, and ethics - which are inherently tied to religious convictions and principles - shows how shallow and dishonest the intellectual water is in which some professed academics play.”
Amid the exchange, Alvarez made a separate Facebook post, predictably labeling Yarbrough as an "extremist."
"Ernie Yarbrough (R-H7) is an extremist," wrote Alvarez. "These people should not be making laws for the rest of us. He probably drools over the Handmaid’s Tale 'Commanders' like a 1980’s teenager did for New Kids on the Block. We must vote normal, constitutional candidates."
Recently signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey, the Alabama Released Time Credit Act, or SB248, officially goes into effect on July 1. The legislation specifically requires each local board of education to implement a policy allowing students released from the classroom to attend elective religious instruction during the school day to earn elective credit.
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