A RAFT of legislation promoting Christianity in public education is being proposed in the Republican state of Texas, although a flagship policy to force schools to display the Ten Commandments has fallen.
The Ten Commandments Bill was passed by the Texas Senate in April, but it fell in the Texas House of Representatives last month by running out of time, after the Democrats reportedly talked it out. The Bill would have obliged school officials to display the Commandments, as listed in the King James Bible, “in a conspicuous place in every classroom”.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a non-profit advocacy group, told The New York Times: “Forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments is part of the Christian nationalist crusade to compel all of us to live by their beliefs.”
A Bill to allow chaplains to act as school counsellors was passed, and can now be signed into law by the state’s Republican governor.
Another Bill will also allow public schools to observe a moment of prayer and hear a reading from a religious text, such as the Bible. Texas had already passed a law in 2021 requiring school districts to display “In God We Trust” signs if they are donated; and, in the past two years, thousands have been donated and installed.
Supporters of pro-Christian legislation have been emboldened to push forward new legislation by the US Supreme Court’s ruling last summer in favour of a high-school football coach, Joseph Kennedy, who prayed with players. Mr Kennedy had been suspended by his school in 2015 for leading prayers on the field after games, and his contract had not been renewed. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled by six to three that Mr Kennedy’s actions were protected by the Constitution, and dismissed the argument that they had a coercive effect on students (News, 8 July 2022).
The federal government’s Education Department updated its guidance on prayer and other religious expression in public schools after the Texas Bill on student chaplains and the Ten Commandments was proposed.
The new guidance says that “Teachers, school administrators, and other school employees may not encourage or discourage private prayer or other religious activity,” and that the US Constitution permits school employees to engage in private prayer during the working day.
It warned, however, that school employees were not permitted to “compel, coerce, persuade, or encourage students to join in the employee’s prayer or other religious activity”. The guidance goes on to say that schools may take “reasonable measures” to ensure that students are not put under pressure or encouraged to join in the private prayers of their teachers or coaches.