The U.S. Department of Education, under President Trump’s directive, will soon issue new guidance to protect the right to prayer in public schools, reinforcing constitutional protections for religious expression. This guidance responds to recent Supreme Court rulings, particularly Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022). It aims to ensure students and staff can engage in private prayer without coercion or restriction, while schools maintain neutrality. It addresses incidents where students faced penalties for religious activities and seeks to curb anti-religious bias in education.
Monay Trump and a team of associates announced at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC:
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I will always defend our nation's glorious heritage and protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding. We must bring back faith in America, stronger than ever. pic.twitter.com/Cm0TXSkMZs
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) September 8, 2025
Details:
During his September 8, 2025, speech at the Museum of the Bible, President Trump announced forthcoming Department of Education guidance to safeguard prayer in public schools. This initiative aligns with his administration’s broader commitment to religious liberty, emphasizing the protection of Judeo-Christian principles as foundational to America’s heritage. The guidance builds on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requirements, specifically Section 8524, which mandates that local educational agencies (LEAs) certify annually to state educational agencies (SEAs) that they have no policies preventing constitutionally protected prayer.
The new guidance is a direct response to the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which ruled that a public school could not prohibit a football coach from engaging in personal prayer on the field after games, as it violated the First Amendment’s Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses. The Court clarified that such personal religious observance is protected, provided it does not coerce students. The forthcoming guidance will likely reiterate that school employees may engage in private prayer during non-official capacities, such as during breaks, without encouraging or discouraging student participation. Schools can take reasonable measures to prevent student coercion but cannot ban private religious expression simply because it is religious.
Trump highlighted cases like that of Hannah Allen from Honeygrove, Texas, who was initially prohibited by her school principal from organizing a prayer group for an injured peer but prevailed after standing her ground. Similarly, he referenced Shay Ennis, a California fifth-grader forced to read a book promoting gender ideology that conflicted with his Christian beliefs, leading to bullying and school inaction. These examples underscore the guidance’s aim to protect students from being penalized for their faith or coerced into activities against their beliefs.
The guidance will also address broader religious expression, ensuring schools do not discriminate against religious student groups or literature distribution, provided these activities align with rules applied to non-religious groups. It will likely reaffirm that schools may teach about religion for educational purposes but cannot provide religious instruction that promotes specific beliefs. Public schools must remain neutral, neither favoring nor opposing any religion, to comply with the Establishment Clause.
This initiative follows the Department’s 2023 guidance, which was updated post-Kennedy to clarify the balance between free exercise and establishment concerns. The new guidance will likely strengthen these protections, addressing perceived anti-religious bias in schools. Trump’s announcement ties into his broader agenda, including executive orders to defund schools promoting "radical gender ideology” and investigations into universities for civil rights violations related to religious discrimination. LEAs failing to comply with ESEA certification or found to restrict protected prayer risk losing federal funds, with SEAs required to report non-compliance to the Secretary of Education by November 1 annually.
By reinforcing constitutional protections, the guidance aims to empower students and educators to express their faith freely while ensuring schools avoid endorsing or coercing religious activity, fostering an environment of religious liberty without violating church-state separation.
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https://t.co/CZmzgmJ5C9— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) September 8, 2025
