Urgent: March 21, 2026

As we feared and suspected, an amendment has been added to HB 253 to mandate release time for moral instruction, aka Lifewise Academy. HB 253 is a bill about reading instruction and had bipartisan support when it passed out of the House. Its sponsor is Rep. James Tipton, who has been very active in educational legislation over the years.

This is a classic example of how Frankfort works. A bill cannot stand on its own merit and must be forced through via floor amendments and committee substitutes. To be clear, the original bill regarding mandating moral instruction never made it out of the House Education Committee. It has not been vetted through a committee assigned to review and vet proposals regarding education. No hearing has been held for folks to attend and speak on this topic. No superintendents, educational associations, faith leaders or parental groups have been consulted. Simply put, this is an attempt to bypass vetting and public review of a hugely consequential proposal.

This is not a surprise. This is exactly how this happened last year when language regarding moral instruction was inserted into a bill in the waning days of the session.

In order to push back against this move by Senator Reed and his allies, we have a plan of action for the next few days. We need you and all those you can recruit to jump in and assist.

Please take a look at the action plan button below. We are also working behind the scenes with partner groups and other allies.

We need you. This is the final push and all hands are needed on deck! We will reach out soon with updates.