Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday urged public schools across the state to reintroduce Bible reading and prayer in classrooms, citing the passage of a new state law that gives local school boards authority to set aside time for religious observance.
“As I’ve always said and believed, we want the word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up in Texas classrooms,” Paxton said in a Sept. 2 statement. He framed the effort as a defense of religious freedom and the state’s moral foundations, saying opponents of the measure sought to “erode the moral fabric of our society.”
The Legislature this year approved Senate Bill 11, which allows local independent school district boards to adopt policies that dedicate time for students to read the Bible or other religious texts and to engage in personal prayer. Paxton’s office said the law requires each board of trustees to take a recorded vote on whether to implement such periods “no later than six months after September 1, 2025.” The office also said student participation in any designated periods would require parental consent.
Supporters hailed the measure as a restoration of religious expression in schools. Kim Hermann, president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, told Fox News Digital that allowing voluntary time for prayer would be welcomed by parents and students who feel constrained from expressing religious beliefs. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The proposal arrives amid continued legal and political debate over religion in public education. Federal courts have long drawn lines around school-sponsored prayer and religious displays, and a federal judge has previously blocked Texas public schools from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Paxton’s statement and the new law emphasize voluntary participation and local control, framing the measure as compatible with constitutional protections for free exercise of religion.
At a separate event Monday at the Museum of the Bible, former President Donald Trump said the U.S. Department of Education would soon issue guidance aimed at protecting the right to pray in public schools. Paxton and other supporters said state-level flexibility would allow communities to structure such time in a way they consider constitutional and appropriate.
Critics of government involvement in school prayer have argued historically that school-sponsored or coercive religious activity in public schools raises Establishment Clause concerns. Legal outcomes have varied based on the degree of school endorsement and whether participation is truly voluntary. The new Texas law shifts the initial decision to local boards and explicitly conditions student participation on parental consent, elements Paxton’s office cited as protections against coercion.
Implementation will depend on local school boards, which must hold recorded votes to adopt policies under the timetable set in the law. Should districts move forward, the provisions could prompt legal challenges that courts would decide by applying established First Amendment precedents about the separation of church and state and the protection of individual religious expression.
Paxton’s announcement underscores the continuing national conversation over the role of religion in public life and education, as state officials, local school boards, advocacy groups and courts assess how policies interact with constitutional protections for both religious exercise and the avoidance of state endorsement of religion.