Southern Baptists to reconsider public schools

KNOXVILLE — A movement among Southern Baptists to remove their children from public schools is resurfacing at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.The state convention meets today and tomorrow at the First Baptist Church of Sevierville.A proposal calling on Southern Baptists to pull their children out of ''godless'' public schools was never formally considered in June at the national convention in Indianapolis.But 10 state Baptist conventions — including Tennessee's — are reconsidering the idea, according to Exodus Mandate, a Columbia, S.C.-based organization that advocates private, Christian and homeschool education over public schools.