Texas requires schools to display 'In God We Trust' signs after passing controversial law
AUSTIN — As Texas children return to campus for the start of the school year, many might be noticing new signs in their hallways, thanks to a 2021 Texas law that requires public schools to display "In God We Trust" posters if they are donated to the school or purchased with private donations.
But the law is sparking controversy in some school districts.
Texas Senate Bill 797, which passed last year, says that school districts that receive a donation of a “durable poster or framed copy of the United States national motto ‘In God We Trust’" must display it in a “conspicuous place in each building or institution.”
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'In God We Trust' sign law causes controversy
“It's a reminder for ourselves and our children that the First Amendment right to religious liberty is alive and well in our country and that our freedom is fundamentally what separates us from regimes that restrict religion and oppress their citizens,” said Jonathan Covey, director of policy for Texas Values, a conservative Christian organization that advocates for Judeo-Christian values and strongly supports the new law. “So I think it's good. I think it's a reminder that we're a nation and state that believes in a power greater than ourselves.”
But the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit that advocates for religious freedom, civil liberties and public education, says the law inappropriately inserts religion into public schools.
“Texas schools should be a safe place for children to learn and grow free of outside interference,” Carisa Lopez, political director for the Texas Freedom Network, said in a statement to the Statesman.
“This law is another attempt by certain politicians to continue to chip away at the separation of church and state," Lopez said. "Our Constitution guarantees freedom from religion, and the state of Texas shouldn’t be making any religious requirements of our public schools.”
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The bill faced little opposition in the state's legislature. Gov. Greg Abbott signed it June 16, 2021, and it became effective immediately.
“The national motto asserts our collective trust in a sovereign God,” Texas Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican who co-authored the bill, said in a statement released to the American-Statesman, part of the Paste BN Network, through a spokesperson.
Hughes said he co-authored another bill in 2003 that allowed schools to display such signs, but last year's bill "went farther" by requiring schools to post the signs "if there is no cost associated with the display."
Signs already up in some school districts
Members of the group Moms for Liberty donated several framed "In God We Trust" posters to the Round Rock district, near Austin, Texas, in the second half of the 2021-22 school year, and they are on display at several elementary, middle and high schools said Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, spokesperson for the district.
“We are in compliance with the law and worked cooperatively with volunteers who wished to donate the posters to our campuses,” LaCoste-Caputo said.
Last November, the National Motto Project, based in Brazoria County, donated 25 framed "In God We Trust" posters to another school district near Houston which put them on display at 25 of the district’s 26 campuses. Only one school in the district does not have one of the posters on display, as it was not open at the time of the donation.
A district spokesman, Tim Savoy, said the district has not received any formal complaints about the posters but did have a number of informal concerns reported directly to campus principals or district leadership.
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“We do our best to stay out of politically charged matters because our primary focus is on education,” Savoy said in a statement to the Statesman. “Admittedly, that is harder and harder to do as school districts seem to garner more and more attention from political office holders and candidates on both sides of the aisle.”
“We do comply with the law and will generally direct any concerns or complaints to the people responsible for the creation of requirements imposed on independent school districts. Our district is 23,000 students strong, and we have a very diverse community in many respects, including along the political spectrum. Since we work for all of our parents and taxpayers, we do not believe it is the district’s place to pick a side, when we can help it, on issues that are not within our control.”
Parents concerned in Texas' Capitol
A representative for the Austin district said it has not received any donated "In God We Trust" signs.
But Tasca Shadix, the mother of a ninth grader and a senior in Austin district schools, said she’s worried about the potential impact of the law.
“I'm very concerned about it because it creates a very unwelcoming environment for children of different faiths or who don't have a religious faith,” Shadix said. “I think you know public schools are for our children to learn things like reading and writing and math and life skills, and church is for learning about religion.”
Hope Turner, whose daughter is a sophomore in the Austin district, is also opposed to the new law, which she said she wasn’t aware of until she was informed about it last week by a friend.
“I find it disgusting. I don't think that there's a place for religion in a public school,” Turner said. “I think it's interesting that the politicians will talk about the freedom and parents’ right to choose, but then they pass a law like this, which is effectively taking away my right to choose. I don't choose for my daughter to go to a Christian church. I don't choose for her to follow the belief of Christianity.”
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