"ATLANTA (AP) -- A bill clearing public high schools to teach Bible classes has been approved by the Legislature and is on its way to Gov. Sonny Perdue to be signed. The Senate voted 45-2 on Monday to agree to some House changes to the plan, which would let local school systems create classes on the Old Testament and New Testament.

The proposal, originally introduced this year by a group of Senate Democrats, surprised many Republicans, who hold majorities in both the House and Senate. Republicans quickly substituted their own version, which specifies that the Bible itself would be the course textbook."