Texas Senate passes school prayer bill

AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — The Texas Senate passed a bill Tuesday permitting schools to allow students to take time during school hours for prayer or other religious observations.

Senate Bill 11, proposed by Republican Senator Mayes Middleton, would authorize a school district or non-religious charter school’s board of trustees to “adopt a policy requiring every campus of the district or school to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text on each school day in accordance with this section.”

Once a school district adopted such a policy, in very specific terms laid out by the bill, they would have to send out opt-in consent forms to parents and guardians of the students in the district. A parent and student would have to sign the form to participate in any religious observance during school hours.

Middleton began his speech Tuesday by stating that “Senate Bill 11 puts prayer back in our public schools. And we are a nation, and a state, built upon ‘In God We Trust’ [as it says] above our dais right here. Every desk in this chamber is supposed to have a Bible; it’s the same way in the House as well. Our constitutional Free Exercise Clause is about religious liberties. And this bill expands our religious liberties in our public schools.”

Prayers in public schools have, for many decades, been a hot legal issue in the United States. But since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton , Republican legislatures have pushed the boundaries further and further, both in Texas and elsewhere.

In Kennedy v. Bremerton , Justice Neil Gorsuch and the majority held that the school district had violated an assistant football coach’s free exercise rights under the First Amendment for suspending him after he prayed with his team on the field after games.

Much of the debate Tuesday centered not on the text of the bill itself, but on history and case law.

Both the Republican supporters and the Democratic opponents of the bill repeatedly brought up the Kennedy decision and the previous precedent of the “Lemon test” from the 1971 case. And both sides gave their thoughts on whether or not the writers of the Constitution held the separation of church and state as fundamental to the United States, citing letters and texts from early American history such as letters from John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

But one legislator in particular, Democratic Senator Sarah Eckhardt, heavily debated several specific aspects of the bill with Senator Middleton, along with her own comments on the history.

“Let’s talk about that consent form. Why is it that the consent form requires the parent to waive their rights under the First Amendment?” Eckhardt asked Middleton.

“It’s the same as waivers you sign when you play sports,” Middleton responded. “When you go get on the bus to play at a different venue.”

Eckhardt further pressed, “So if that’s the case, why is it that when a parent rescinds their permission, they cannot also rescind their waiver of a right under the First Amendment?” To this, Middleton responded once again that it was a way to prevent litigation.

Later in their debate, Eckhardt and Middleton discussed the Kennedy decision at length.

“The key holding in Kennedy, actually, was that the coach was praying not as a school function, not with a captive audience, and that was the exception, wasn’t it?” she asked Middleton. “Whereas your bill, unlike in the Kennedy decision, requires the school to organize the prayer time, does it not?”

“It does,” Middleton retorted. “It leaves it up to the school to determine what’s best during their particular school schedule and hours, to pick what works best for them.”

“You are aware that, without this bill, students can pray before school, and can pray after school. They can pray at lunchtime, during recess. They can exchange religious tracts with classmates, and none of that is prohibited under current law. So, why do we need this bill?”

“This establishes a period of prayer during school hours,” Middleton responded. “What you’re talking about is before or after.”

“So, this bill establishes the school organizing prayer, that’s right?” Echkardt asked, to which Middleton answered, “Yes.”

“And you don’t think that’s a violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution?” Eckhardt further questioned.

Middleton responded, “No, because there is no such thing as separation of church and state. That was in a letter from Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists that has been twisted completely out of control. And the Coach Kennedy case made that clear.”

In a statement following the session on X, formerly Twitter, Eckhardt said, “Instead of focusing on policies that serve Texans — like fully funding public schools — the ruling class is pushing measures to erase the line between church & state. Gov’t should be minimally intrusive & work for all of us, not dictate religious practices in public schools.”