This fall, thousands of students are quietly leaving their public-school classrooms each week to receive religious instruction, becoming part of a growing movement nationwide.

The National Association for Released Time Christian Education (NARTCE) believes the movement reflects a growing uncertainty among students and parents over the decline of morality in public education. Last year, a study by the Josephson Institute of Ethics revealed that, among those surveyed, 61 percent of high-school students and 32 percent of college students admitted to cheating on recent exams.

Roger Blankenship, the executive director of the Georgia-based NARTCE until recently taking a post at Scripture Union, says released-time programs are set up legally to permit students to leave during school hours to attend Bible studies or religious-education classes.

Founded ten years ago, NARTCE's strength is in its numbers: 250,000 public-school students in 30 states participated in the programs during 1993. Of those students, 60 percent were unchurched. Under the program, elementary, junior-high, and high-school students, once parental consent is secured, leave classes at least once a week. "At least 115,000 kids in this country heard the gospel who might not otherwise have heard it," Blankenship says.

Students are instructed with course material from many sources. For elementary-age children, the Missouri-based Child Evangelism Fellowship and Scripture Union are among the organizations providing basic Bible-study lessons. Secondary students can work through David Nobel's "Understanding the Times" or the Caleb Campaign's historical literature. They also learn Bible-study techniques and discuss subjects such as creationism, the relevance of the Old Testament, ...