Politicians are often criticized for not living up to their promises. For the Idaho Republican Party, however, doing so may end up leaving schools open to constitutional battles.

Last year, the state Republican party's central committee officially endorsed using the Bible in the state's public schools. Although the Bible has valid educational uses in a number of classes, the resolution included a huge laundry list of possible topics where it could apply, and those included a number of sciences, specifically astronomy, biology, and geology.

At the time, it wasn't at all clear how an ancient religious text would inform modern scientific understanding. But that hasn't stopped the Idaho Senate's Education Committee, which has proposed a bill with language that precisely mimics the central committee's document. The only significant additional text in the bill involves repealing existing Idaho education law in order to make room for the Bible.

By specifically mentioning the text of a single major religion, the bill clearly raises the danger of a lawsuit based on violations of the Constitution's establishment clause. All it will take is a teacher feeling encouraged to drag the Bible into a physics class.