By Jim Siegel
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - State and national mottoes could start appearing in classrooms all over the state under a bill passed Wednesday by the Ohio House.

"In God We Trust" and "With God, All Things are Possible" would have to be displayed in school buildings if copies of the mottoes, or funding for such copies, are donated. And districts could not refuse to accept such donations, according to the bill, which passed the House 74-25.

Bill sponsor Rep. Keith Faber, R-Celina, said the measure is designed to facilitate discussion of the mottoes, not to push for a particular religion.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio have argued the bill is a back-door attempt to get God into schools and promote religion.

But Faber thinks the bill would withstand any church-state court challenges, noting both mottoes have been upheld as constitutional.

The bill originally required districts to place copies of the mottoes in each of Ohio classrooms, at an estimated cost of $3 million.

But those requirements were softened before the bill passed a House committee Wednesday. Schools now would have to post the mottoes only if someone else agrees to donate them.

Under the bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, schools are not allowed to refuse acceptance of donated mottoes.

South Carolina and Mississippi are the only states that require the national motto be displayed in every classroom, according to the American Family Association. Two states - Utah and Virginia - have passed laws requiring the national motto be displayed in schools, according to the Family Association. Ten states have passed laws permitting schools to post the national motto, but not requiring it.