Like the Texas State Board of Education preparing to vote last month asked for prayer from her pastor, board member Staci Childs, on whether to allow public school districts to join a new elementary school curriculum that includes Bible-based lessons.
“I think it’s not a bad thing to learn something about the Bible from the historical account. But what kind of Christian am I if I say less Christianity?’ The children said last week. “It was a contradiction for me.”
The material won narrow approval in a Republican-led 8-7 vote, though three Republican members joined the four Democrats on the board, including Childs, in opposition.
“The law has a clear separation of church and state,” said Childs, an attorney who represents the Houston area on the board.
If in the 1960s and 1980s the constitutionality of mixing religious doctrine with public school education seemed to be largely decided by US Supreme Court decisions limiting how religious activities and teachings could be practiced, a wave of new laws and mandates in statesespecially in the South, fueling controversy and testing the boundaries of what is legally permissible.
In those states, officials, teachers and parents are grappling with how much, if any, religious instruction to give children at a time when many conservative Christians have disabilities. emboldened by President-elect Donald Trump and hugged The ideology of Christian nationalismConsiders the Bible a central aspect of American history and tradition.
“The Bible Wins in Texas!” Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, a conservative and religious think tank Posted in X after the school board voted on the curriculum. “Liberal efforts to target, deny, and ban the Bible’s influence on English literature/history are SUCCEEDING!!”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Republican, Answered in X approval of a curriculum known as “state-designed.” Bluebonnet Learning“will ensure that all students receive appropriate grade-level instruction and is an important step toward improving student outcomes statewide.”
School districts will not be forced to implement the curriculum in their kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms, but if they choose to do so, they will receive a financial incentive of $60 per child starting next year.
Mark Chancey, a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said that while the material itself mentions other religions, including Judaism and Islam, biblical lessons and Christianity are more prominent. This is problematic, he added.
“When a public school plays religious favorites by emphasizing Christianity over any other tradition and teaching Christianity in a way that encourages the promotion of Christian religious claims, it violates all of our religious freedoms,” Chancey said on NBC News. Now.
Although the material is optional, Childs believes it can still be challenged in court.
Lawsuits are already underway in other states that have recently adopted Bible-based rules in schools.
In Louisiana, a law that took effect on January 1 required all public K-12 schools and colleges to display posters depicting the Ten Commandments. temporarily blocked after a group of parents filed suit in federal court. The the state applies and arguments are expected in January.
Oklahoma this year higher education worker He started ordering public schools with students in grades 5-12 Enter the Bible included in lesson plans. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, a Republican, bought 500 Bibles and asked the state for $3 million to buy copies for each classroom.
In October, a group of parents sued the state, claiming the mandate violated the Oklahoma Constitution.
Plaintiff Erika Wright, founder of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition and a mother of three, said the state is consistently at the bottom. national education rankingsshould prioritize the basics and leave the discussion of religion to families at home.
“Public school is not Sunday school,” Wright said.
Walters offered teachers who did not want to comply may lose his licenseetc.
In a recent interview with NBC News, the former high school history teacher said he believes the claims will “absolutely” stand if the lawsuit reaches the U.S. Supreme Court. there is 6-3 conservative majority.
“We want our kids to understand the American exceptionalism that makes America great,” Walters said, adding, “You may be offended by Christianity, you may not agree with Christianity, but that doesn’t give you the right to excommunicate Christianity. American history. We saw what the left did.”
State officials like Walters have relied on national Republican leaders to show support for their initiatives. While Trump touted Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law on social media as “the first big step in religious revival,” last year House Speaker Mike Johnson blasted people’s notion of separation of church and state. “wrong name” it says On CNBC, after praying on the floor of the House of Representatives, he said the founders “didn’t want the government to interfere with the church — not that they didn’t want the tenets of the faith to affect our public life. It’s the exact opposite.”
Although the words “separation of church and state” are not clearly written in the Constitution, lawyers say. the phrase refers to the establishment clause in the First Amendmentit prohibits the government from endorsing one official religion or favoring another.
Joshua Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said public schools that openly teach that Christianity or any religion is the “one true faith” would be unconstitutional. But, he said, arguments could be made that “passive” actions, such as having a Bible in the classroom or the Ten Commandments on the wall, are acceptable if “nothing needs to be done.”
Rachel Laser, president of United States for Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit advocacy group that supported the lawsuits in Louisiana and Oklahoma, agreed that teaching about the Bible or religion has its place in the right context. Older students, he said, can question and discern what they are being taught, but younger students are more impressionable.
“There’s nothing wrong with teaching a comparative religion class,” Lazer said. “Teaching a religion as truth or favoring a religion, including deviating from it, is a problem.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers and school officials in other states are considering religious proposals that would not be as extreme as requiring Bibles in classrooms, but are still under investigation.
A A bill is being debated in Ohio all school districts may be required to develop policies that allow students to be excused for religious instruction during the school day.
in Florida, school boards review after the law was passed this year, whether volunteers would be allowed to serve as chaplains or religious representatives for students who wanted to.
Childs, a member of the Texas State Board of Education, sees the current push for increased religious influence in public schools coming amid a rollback. diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in companies and institutions.
“It’s ironic that we’re okay with one group, but you don’t want your kids exposed to others,” she said. “Where’s the lesson in that?”