On Sept. 7, 1966, first graders share a moment of silent prayer at the start of their day in a South Carolina school. Even after the Supreme Court ruling outlawing sectarian prayer in schools, Imost school districts in South Carolina left the “prayer issue” to the teachers’ discretion. (Getty Images)
Returning prayer to public schools and promoting “school choice” nationwide are two of 10 priorities to “rebuild” America’s education system announced by President-elect Donald Trump in a video Nov. 10.
Trump’s 10-point plan echoes the ideals of Project 2025 — which Trump disavowed during the election — and fulfills a conservative wish list that includes dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
Ironically, Trump and his supporters have complained for years that the federal government is mandating unnecessary rules and regulations for public schools. Yet his 10-point plan would mandate other rules and regulations — although most will not be easily done and will face stiff legal challenges.
And how these new regulations would be promulgated without a Department of Education is not clear.
Prayer in schools
“Bringing back prayer to our schools” is fifth on Trump’s list. State-sanctioned prayers in public schools were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962 in Engle v. Vitale. Before then, especially across the American South, many teachers and principals led morning prayers from a Christian tradition — without regard to the religious beliefs of students in the classrooms.
The First Amendment states that government may not favor one religious practice over another. The Supreme Court thus ruled that these school prayers “established” Christianity while excluding other religions — and even excluding some forms of Christianity.
However, ever since that Supreme Court ruling, conservative evangelicals have sought to reinstate state-sanctioned prayer in public schools, claiming its absence has led to moral rot among students and culture.
Mandating — or even allowing — state-sponsored prayer in public schools would require upending a Supreme Court precedent, something highly unusual until the high court two years ago reversed Roe v. Wade, fulfilling another objective of conservative evangelicals. So it is possible but would take a long and winding course of litigation that would end up again at the Supreme Court 62 years later.
https://baptistnews.com/article/trump-pledges-to-bring-back-prayer-in-schools/