Ryan Walters is the education superintendent in Oklahoma, which is ranked 49th in education. He recorded a video announcement in which he prayed for Donald. He directed schools to show the video to all enrolled students and to send it to their parents. On some right wing news show, he threatened to penalize any school that refuses to show the video. Oklahoma's attorney general said that it is a violation of people's rights for Walters to mandate this. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-officials-religious-department-schools-classroom-lawsuit/ Walters also mandated that Bibles that meet certain rare specifications be placed in all schools. Only the Trump Bibles, which cost $60 and are made in China, met those specifications. To avoid a legal challenge over lack of competition among vendors, he loosened the requirements.
The Texas State Board of Education approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools. If a school chooses to use it, it'll receive additional funding. This country is turning into Iran. https://apnews.com/article/texas-bible-religion-schools-52b74577982b34ce2607b693bd51cae7
That's the crux of the issue, though. What is and is not constitutional has always sat with the Supreme Court. This Court has shown its willingness to ignore precedence, the law, and even the Constitution itself in order to push its desired agenda. Would it be willing to push past the Establishment Clause to put into effect what it desires? I think so.
Yes, I have serious concerns about SCOTUS. When I first wrote that sentence it was stated as fact. My second thought was your SCOTUS concern and I changed it to "hopefully".
Thus far, the Supreme Court hasn't looked with favor on public officials spending public money on religious indoctrination let alone compelling members of the public to undergo indoctrination. I don't think this is likely to change. Many Justices are Catholic and have little sympathy for tent revival Baptists. It's unlikely they'd rewrite the Establishment Clause to favor such things.
