A bill to allow for periods of prayer or Bible readings in public and charter schools in Texas has cleared one of its last hurdles to becoming law. The bill passed its final reading in the Texas House on Friday by a vote of 88-48 and now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for final approval.
State Rep. David Spiller (R-Jacksboro) sponsored Senate Bill 11 in the House. He stressed the measure was designed to be entirely voluntary and applicable to all religions, so as not to interfere with anyone's freedom of religion under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — and, by extension, to avoid putting the state in a position where it might be more likely to incur a court challenge.
"If school districts decide or charter school governance [boards] decide not to do this, then they don't have to," Spiller said. "But if they do, then schoolteachers, employees can choose to participate, but they don't have to. If children want to participate, and their parents allow and consent for them to do that, they can do that, but they don't have to."
State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin), a former San Antonio public school teacher and current seminary student, said he feared the language of the bill would nevertheless increase the ability of teachers and administrators to at least reward school prayer, such as by giving students who participated extra points on tests. At worst, he said, it could create a coercive atmosphere that would violate the First Amendment.
"When we allow teachers and principals, those in positions of power, to impose their religion on other people, especially children, we are undermining the freedom of religion that made this state and this country great, and it is a threat to religious and nonreligious people alike," Talarico said.
Several supporters of SB 11, including state Rep. Brent Money (R-Greenville), raised open questions as to whether there was a legitimate line between church and state, let alone whether the proposed law crossed such a line.
"Well into the 1950s and '60s, prayer and Bible reading were common in public schools across the United States," Money said. "I would offer to you that our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading more now than they ever have."
But state Rep. Christian Manuel (D-Port Arthur) raised explicitly religious arguments against the reintroduction of prayer and Bible readings into public schools.
"If you want to go ahead and go down this path because you love Jesus so much, because you want to tell people what kind of Jesus they can pray to, which is what this really, truly is, don't try to make it seem like people don't care about Jesus, that we don't want to pray to him," Manuel said. "The problem is the fact that you are polluting our religion and other people's religion by putting Caesar into it. 'Pay to Caesar what is due to him.' This is not due to Caesar. Caesar should have no part of your religion."
SB 11 could have potential ramifications for next year's state elections. The bill's author, state Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), is a declared candidate for the Republican nomination for state attorney general.
One of its most vocal opponents in the House was state Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin), a former Sunday school teacher, who is a declared candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
"Unfortunately, I don't think that bringing prayer or prayer time into our schools is going to have the outcome that we, that this bill is hoping for," Goodwin said, following her unsuccessful effort to derail a floor vote on the bill. "But it does cross the lines of the separation of church and state, and so therefore, I am against this bill."
This story has been updated to reflect the final passage of SB 11 in the House.
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