Education Department Issues Guidance Protecting Prayer in Schools
Students and teachers can expect to soon have clarification about their religious freedom rights. “I’m pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools,” President Donald Trump said last week.
The president, speaking at an event at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., shared the story of a public school student in Texas, who was told she and her classmates could only pray in hidden or isolated places after they had prayed at lunch for an injured friend. The school changed its policy in response to legal action from First Liberty Institute.
“I just want to thank you for letting the light of your faith shine for all of those to see,” Trump told the girl, who was in the audience. “For most of our country’s history, the Bible was found in every classroom in the nation, yet in many schools today, students are instead indoctrinated with anti-religious propaganda, and some are even punished for their religious beliefs.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has banned official prayer in public schools in a number of decisions since the 1960s. But they have also ruled student-led prayer is constitutional and within the rights of all students. In recent years states have been pushing to reintroduce religion to classrooms. In 2024, Louisiana became the first state to require a copy of the Ten Commandments be posted in public classrooms, and Arkansas and Texas followed suit this year
Trump also talked about his administration’s efforts to offer tax credits for school choice scholarships and his efforts to keep transgender students out of sports. The president said the nation’s faith and success are linked.
“When faith gets weaker, our country seems to get weaker,” he said. “When faith gets stronger, as it is right now, we’re having a very good period of time after some rough years, good things happen for our country. It’s amazing the way it seems to work that way.”
The president said the American people “have to bring back religion in America, bring it back stronger than ever before.”
–Dwight Widaman
