Left: Rep. Phil King (R) speaks in favor of mandating posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Right: A statue of the Ten Commandments is seen outside the Texas Statehouse. (screengrabs via YouTube)
“Religious freedom” may soon look bigger in Texas.
Lawmakers in the Lone Star State Senate have introduced multiple pieces of legislation that would seriously blur the line between church and state. Two state lawmakers in the House, meanwhile, have offered an amendment to a proposed law that would ostensibly prepare third graders for mass shootings by teaching them how to access “bleeding control stations” and tourniquets used by the U.S. military in “battlefield trauma care.”
Senate Bill 1515 and its House companion, HB 3448, requires that all public schools in Texas display a “durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments” that is at least 16 inches by 20 inches and, “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.”
The bill was cosponsored by Republican lawmakers Phil King, Brandon Creighton, Mayes Middleton, and Lois Winkelmann Kolkhorst.
The constitutional issues raised by SB 1515 are blatant: requiring public schools to post religious texts raises a clear First Amendment issue. Under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the government may not establish or endorse an official American religion, and legislation that involves religion must have some legitimate secular or legislative purpose.
The Supreme Court specifically addressed the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms in 1980 in Stone v. Graham. At the time, it was Kentucky instead of Texas, and the posters were were privately purchased, not provided by the government. The Court struck down the statute nonetheless. The justices ruled on a similar case in 2005 when it sided against Alabama’s former chief justice, Roy Moore, who defied a federal order to dismantle a Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of the State Supreme Court.
In recent years, however, the current Supreme Court has evinced a willingness to expand its definition of “religious liberty,” thereby shrinking the scope of Establishment Clause violations. The Court overturned the longstanding “Lemon Test” last June in its 6-3 ruling in favor of the so-called “praying football coach,” and it is poised to deliver a similar win to a Christian postal worker who refused to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays.
Prayer time, Bible readings, and chaplains as counselors
Another set of proposed laws, SB 1396 and its companion, HB 4949, also sponsored by a cohort of Republican legislators, allows public school districts to adopt policies allowing for Bible or other religious text readings and moments of prayer during the school day. The proposed legislative text includes language meant to squash any lawsuits based on violation of the First Amendment.
For a student to participate in Bible readings or prayer time, that student’s guardian must provide not only written permission, but also “an express waiver of the person’s right to bring a claim under state or federal law arising out of the adoption of a policy under this section, including claims under the United States Supreme Court’s interpretations of the Establishment Clause, which forever releases the school district and all school officials from any such claims that the signatory might assert in state or federal court.”
A third Republican-sponsored set of bills, SB 763 and HB 3614, would allow public school districts to employ a chaplain instead of a school counselor to do the job of a school counselor. If the school opts to use a chaplain, the legislation specifically says that the chaplain need not be certified by the state’s Board of Education.
Under Texas law, school counselors who are not chaplains must have completed a specialized program and two years of classroom teaching, passed a certification exam, and hold a master’s degree. Texas school counselors are empowered to develop and administer guidance and counseling programs to students, make admissions and disciplinary decisions, serve on crisis teams, and provide special education services to students.
“The reality is that our school children and faculty spend much of their lives in the school building and classroom…and our schools are not God-free zones,” said Middleton, who authored two of the bills.
Although the legislation has support within the conservative community, not all those affiliated with religious institutions agree.
Jennifer Hawkes, associate general counsel for Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, advocated against dispensing with requirements to allow chaplains to become counselors.
“Misusing the title of ‘chaplain’ to shortcut standards for public school counselors undermines religious freedom in public schools,” warned Hawks. “Religious instruction for Texas students is best left to houses of worship, religious institutions and families.”
Texas Dems head to the battlefield
Two Texas House Democrats, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins and Ryan Guillen, co-sponsored legislation that would require third graders in public schools to have access to bleeding control stations and tourniquets “approved for use in battlefield trauma care by the Armed Forces of the United States.”
House Bill 1147, as originally introduced in 2019, required all Texas school districts have “bleeding control stations,” and to train children on usage of the stations from seventh grade forward.
A new amendment would now impose the training requirement from third grade and up.
“Bleeding Control stations” include chest seals, specialized bandages, space emergency blankets, latex-free gloves, markers, scissors, and instructional documents developed by the American College of Surgeons or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “detailing methods to prevent blood loss following a traumatic event.” The legislation was introduced in the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde that caused the death of 19 students and two teachers.
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