A proposal allowing a period for praying and reading religious texts in Texas public schools is heading to Gov. Greg Abbott.
School trustees would have to decide whether their districts would offer students and staff the period — outside of instruction time — under a bill that House lawmakers voted 88-48 to send to the governor.
The Senate passed the measure in March.
If adopted by local trustees, public campuses would have to provide the daily period and parents would have to sign a form to allow or forbid their child’s participation.
GOP leaders said the bill protects religious freedom. But Democrats pushed back, calling the measure constitutionally ambiguous by infusing religion into public schools. The debate came Thursday, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked in a case that effectively blocked the creation of the country’s first public religious charter school in Oklahoma.
Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, stressed that participation is voluntary under the proposal.
“These voluntary activities cannot occur over the school’s PA system and cannot replace instructional time,” Spiller said. “The bill includes clear protections for students and employees who choose not to participate, including restrictions on being required to listen, watch or even remain nearby.”
Parents giving permission for their children to participate would waive their rights to sue over the policy and release the school, district and employees from liability. Any student or staff who opted out of participating would remain bound by the waiver and be prevented from suing.
Opponents expressed concern over two provisions in particular. One would allow trustees to request the Texas attorney general to defend a school that is sued over the policy. The other removes the term “encourage” from a state law that prohibits a person from requiring, encouraging or coercing a student “to engage in or refrain from such prayer or meditation during any school activity.”
“What laws are we so worried public schools might violate when implementing this bill that we are preemptively getting the state‘s top [legal] official involved?” Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, asked.
Spiller responded that it‘s important for schools and districts to know the state has their back if they face litigation.
“If we pass your bill, we are allowing school officials — government employees — to encourage or discourage students from praying,” Talarico said. “And if I’m reading this correctly, a teacher could tell their students to pray so they don’t go to hell.”
The bill doesn’t address that, Spiller said, suggesting other laws or rules may prohibit such conduct.
Others said the bill is unconstitutional and would be struck down in court.
“Promoting religious practice in public schools is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and an abuse of government power,” Caro Achar, engagement coordinator for free speech at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said in a statement. “SB 11 could lead to religious coercion or exclusion by pressuring students to participate in religious activities they may not believe in, just to avoid being left out or bullied.”
Texas joins other states pushing for more religion in schools.
Lawmakers in the House are expected to send to Abbott a bill that would require the Ten Commandments be displayed in public classrooms — a law Louisiana passed last year that’s being challenged in court.
Support for the prayer time in Texas schools didn’t split evenly based on party affiliation.
Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, named several Senate Democrats who backed the proposal as he advocated for the bill’s passage.
“This is not a partisan issue for me,” he said. “It is about trying to do something that can — I hope, and I believe, and I pray — will help more young people.”
Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, said prayer at school is necessary at a time when crime is rampant, children are being exploited and there’s confusion around whether a student is a boy or a girl.
“We have very real, heartbreaking problems that simply did not exist like this when my parents and grandparents were growing up,” he said. “We should be encouraging our students to pray and read their Bible every day.”
Members who oppose the legislation said they’re not against prayer in schools but don’t believe lawmakers should set a precedent giving the state control over when people can and cannot pray.
Some members acknowledged that lawmakers pray on the House floor daily. Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, said those prayers didn’t stop a legislator from engaging in inappropriate conduct with a young staffer that led to his expulsion last session.
“Prayers that we heard here on the House floor didn’t stop that from happening,” she said. “And even more, he himself was a pastor or a minister. Unfortunately, I don’t think that bringing prayer or prayer time into our schools is going to have the outcome that this bill is hoping for.”
Raymond, a Democratic supporter of the bill, said that, if things go awry, the Legislature can return in 2027 and fix it.
“That‘s the beauty of this process,” he said. “If something doesn’t work right or goes wild and this doesn’t work, you can change it. But I believe it‘s worth trying.”
Lawmakers also voted Friday to pass a proposal that would protect school employees’ right to engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty.
This weekend, they will take up an additional bill permitting religious organizations to use public school and higher education facilities to host events such as worship, services, sermons and assemblies.