Fights over religion in public schools are not new. But several Republican-led states are testing the limits through initiatives that seem primed to land before the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to reshape how faith and schools intersect.
Texas on Friday with the state school board approving a controversial curriculum with Bible-infused lessons for elementary schools. It comes amid a wave of related measures in nearby Republican-led states, with Louisiana passing a law requiring all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments, a mandate in Oklahoma ordering teachers to include the Bible in lessons, and Oklahoma鈥檚 approval of a virtual charter school run by the Catholic church.
Oklahoma鈥檚 state superintendent, Ryan Walters, also recently announced the within the state education department and required that schools show a video announcement of the new office, in which he prays for President-elect Donald Trump.
Even though both Louisiana and Oklahoma have seen challenges in court鈥攁 judge blocked the Ten Commandments law for being 鈥溾�� and Oklahoma鈥檚 supreme court ruled against the religious charter schools鈥攅xperts say the political climate is becoming more favorable toward such policies. Trump and .
Historically, attempts like this aren鈥檛 unusual. But experts say the recent measures could be teeing up efforts to go before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court鈥檚 conservative majority has been paving the way in recent years for public dollars to go toward religious schools and ruled in favor of a football coach鈥檚 post-game prayers at midfield.
鈥淚 imagine legal scholars would say it鈥檚 kind of an uninteresting case from a legal perspective because it seems like the law is clear,鈥� said Suzanne Rosenblith, a professor at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, who specializes in education politics and legal issues. 鈥淭his court hasn鈥檛 appeared to show a lot of deference to precedent in cases that have nothing to do with religion, so I think it could be interesting.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time leaders have tried to bring religion in public schools
Every once in a while, there are 鈥渟purts鈥� of similar measures that aim to bring religion into schools, said Rosenblith.
鈥淭hese things flare up and then they kind of die down,鈥� she said.
In 2005, . In 2006, lawmakers in Georgia passed legislation that would allow classes on the Bible鈥檚 influence on literature, law, music, culture, and other aspects of society; critics worried it didn鈥檛 have safeguards to keep it from straying into the unconstitutional. And back in 1978, Kentucky lawmakers passed a law similar to the Louisiana bill that passed earlier this year requiring a Ten Commandments display in each classroom.
Religion in schools has been litigated since the mid-20th century, with courts finding required devotional readings of the Bible and the offering of the Lord鈥檚 Prayer to be unconstitutional, as is religious instruction in classrooms, though schools can鈥檛 prevent students from praying independently as long as it doesn鈥檛 disrupt school activities.
The Supreme Court also found in 1980 that the Kentucky Ten Commandments law was unconstitutional.
But more recently, the Supreme Court has paved the way for increased mixing of religion and public schools, including through programs that allow parents to direct public funds toward private schools.
In 2020, the court ruled that a Montana tax-credit scholarship program couldn鈥檛 bar families from using the scholarships at religious schools. And two years later, the court said Maine couldn鈥檛 exclude religious schools from a public tuition program for towns without public high schools.
Private school choice over the past few years has grown into a top-ticket priority for the Republican Party.
Twelve states now have at least one private school choice programs that鈥檚 available to all K-12 students in the state or is on track to be, according to an Education Week analysis. And private school enrollment in the United States is overwhelmingly religious: In 2021, three-quarters of children attending private schools attended a religious school, .
Now, state-level momentum for using public funds for private school tuition could translate into federal momentum. In announcing his pick for education secretary, Trump wrote that Linda McMahon would 鈥渇ight tirelessly to expand 鈥楥hoice鈥� to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families.鈥� And that fight could be aided by growing Republican support for private school choice and Republican control of both chambers of Congress.
Is there a way to grapple with religion, without it being devotional?
There is a lot of religious illiteracy, Rosenblith said.
But teacher-preparation programs don鈥檛 prepare educators to talk about religion in class. In some ways, that鈥檚 missing an opportunity to help build students鈥� understanding of why people believe what they believe and where those beliefs come from, she said.
鈥淲e鈥檇 be more religiously literate, both of our own faith communities and others, and perhaps we鈥檇 be more tolerant and understanding of other people鈥檚 comprehensive world views,鈥� Rosenblith said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you get any of that with some of the things that are gaining attention right now and will probably find a hospitable home in the courts.鈥�
