Saturday, 02 August 2025

State Lawmakers Advance Bill To Allow Prayer In Public Schools

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The Texas Senate on Tuesday advanced legislation to put prayer back in public schools.

“The bill would allow teachers and students, with parental consent, to opt into a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts during school hours,” The Center Square reports.

Senate Bill 11 passed in a 23-7 vote.

All Republican senators and three Democrats voted for the legislation.

The bill now goes to the Texas House for consideration.

From the Associated Press:

Lawmakers also gave initial approval to Senate Bill 10, the Ten Commandments bill, on a 20-10 vote. Both proposals are on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s list of priority bills this session.

The votes are the latest sign of confidence by conservative Christians that courts will codify their opposition to church-state separation into federal law and spark a revitalization of faith in America.

That much was clear during the debate on the Senate floor Tuesday. Several Democrats criticized both bills, saying they would infringe on the religious freedoms of Texans who are not Christian.

“I think you’re expanding the role of our public education system to include matters that particularly conservatives have previously said is a private matter,” Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, said of the school prayer bill. The proposal references the Bible but does not specifically name any other religious texts.

Republican Sens. Mayes Middleton of Galveston and Phil King of Weatherford, who authored the bills, expressed confidence that their legislation would survive in the courts. Religious conservatives see recent court rulings as a sign that legislation putting more religion in public schools will survive legal challenges — though critics of these proposals aren’t so convinced.

“Our schools are not God-free zones,” Middleton said, according to The Center Square.

“We are a state and nation built on ‘In God We Trust.’ You have to ask: are our schools better or worse off since prayer was taken out in the 1960s? Litigious atheists are no longer going to get to decide for everyone else if students and educators exercise their religious liberties during school hours,” Middleton added.

The Center Square reports:

Middleton thanked President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick “for making prayer in public schools a top priority,” arguing, “There is no such thing as ‘separation of church and state’ in our Constitution, and recent Supreme Court decisions by President Trump’s appointees reaffirmed this. The goal of this bill is to promote freedom of religion for teachers and students in the place where they spend most of their time – school.”

The Senate is also poised to pass SB 10, filed by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, which would require every public-school classroom to post a copy of the Ten Commandments beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. The first two readings passed, the third was scheduled for Wednesday. If it passes, as it’s expected to do, it will head to the Texas House.

“By placing the Ten Commandments in our public-school classrooms, we ensure our students receive the same foundational moral compass as our state and country’s forefathers,” Patrick said.

In the last legislative session, the Texas Senate passed King’s bill, which died in the Texas House. Last year, Louisiana became the first state to allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools. The Louisiana law is being challenged in court.

In response, Patrick said, “Texas WOULD have been and SHOULD have been the first state in the nation to put the 10 Commandments back in our schools. Last session the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 1515, by Sen. Phil King on April 20th and sent it over to the House, to do what Louisiana just did.”

Read the full bill HERE.


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