Is Separation Of Church And State Disappearing In Public Schools In The South?

Public schools across the United States are responding to the reintroduction of the Bible into classrooms.

---

Legislative changes happening across southern states has led to religion being brought back into classrooms, according to Education Week. 

States like Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma are attempting to implement Bible-based curriculums in public schools, and are even offering financial rewards and funded religious resources to teachers who are leading these lessons, according to The Associated Press (AP).

“You can be offended by Christianity, you can not agree with Christianity, but that doesn’t give you the right to take Christianity out of American history,” Ryan Walters, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, told The AP. And that’s what we’ve seen the left do.”

The reintroduction of religious texts in the South coincides with President-elect Donald Trump’s sentiments that he voiced in a YouTube video advertising his new Bible, in which he claimed that too many Americans are uneducated in religion. 

Trump’s "God Bless the USA Bible," which is being pushed at schools in Oklahoma, includes the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, according to PBS.

Walters, Oklahoma’s top education official, wants children in grades 5 through 12 to adopt Trump-endorsed Bibles into their education, according to CNN. He’s requested $3 million from the state government to buy copies for every classroom in Oklahoma. 

“A friend of mine recently shared that their younger sisters were required to watch a video in their classroom where students were encouraged to join in a Christian prayer for Donald Trump,” said Adele Alix, a third-year student at Oklahoma City University. “Everyone has the right to practice their faith, but religion is deeply personal and should not be imposed in public education … especially not with taxpayer money.”

Many states are employing tactics to bring back Christian texts into public school systems, according to PBS.

In Texas, school districts have been given an optional curriculum to implement in their classrooms that pertains to the Bible, and though it is not required, teachers will receive a financial incentive of $60 per child they teach these lessons to beginning in 2025, according to The AP. 

“Bible wins in Texas! Liberal efforts to Target, Deny & Ban the Bible’s influence on English literature/history FAILS!!” Jonathan Saenz, president of the religious think tank Texas Values,  wrote on X.  “Great job … on [yo]ur common sense vote!”