(May 16, 2007)--Two groups sued a West Texas school district Wednesday on behalf of eight parents who say a Bible course violates their religious liberty.

The American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way Foundation sued the Ector County Independent School District.

The federal suit asks the Odessa school system to stop teaching the elective course.

The Ector school board in 2005 approved offering the course.

A spokesman for the Ector Independent School District had no immediate comment.

The course teaches the King James Version of the Bible using material produced by the North Carolina-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.

Ector trustees chose the class over one offered by the Bible Literacy Project, which uses the text "The Bible and Its Influence" and includes broader discussions of other faiths.

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