TN bill to allow public schools to hire chaplains amid debate over religion and education
Adding to other Tennessee controversies over the role of religion in public education, state lawmakers want to allow local school districts to hire school chaplains.
A new bill in the General Assembly is part of a wave of similar legislative attempts in at least 15 states in the past couple years, which critics have decried as an attempt to infuse conservative evangelical Christian values in public schools.
Proponents of this newer school chaplaincy movement reject accusations of religious bias and defend the idea as an innovative response to youth mental health issues and violence in schools. The bill in Tennessee permits public school districts or publicly funded charter schools to hire school chaplains or accept volunteers to do the same.
Starting in Texas in 2023 with heated deliberation and ultimate approval for the first-ever school chaplain bill, other Republican-led states have followed suit, which has fueled a backlash from those backing the separation of church and state.
'Not only are they unqualified to provide student mental-health services, but chaplains typically do not have the necessary experience or training to ensure that they adhere to schools' educational mandates and avoid veering into proselytizing and other promotion of religion,' Americans United for Separation of Church and State said in a March 6, 2024 news release in response to 14 states filing bills to allow for school chaplains. Americans United highlighted three different open letters from various faith leaders and groups opposing school chaplaincy.
The school chaplaincy debate echoes other legislative fights over the display and teaching of the Ten Commandments and the Bible in public school classrooms. This same legislative session, Tennessee lawmakers are considering a bill to allow the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Relatedly, the newly expanded statewide school voucher program will likely funnel significant taxpayer dollars to private religious schools. Religious schools were among the top places where existing Education Savings Account program students opted to use voucher money to attend in Davidson, Shelby and Hamilton counties.
Though school chaplain advocates defend the idea as religiously neutral, many of the movement's backers come from hardline religious backgrounds. One of the movement's leaders, Rocky Malloy, who leads the Oklahoma-based National School Chaplain Association, promoted his organization's lobbying efforts and its benefits for conservative evangelical values at the National Religious Broadcasters annual gathering in Nashville in June.
The Tennessee bill's sponsor in the House, freshman lawmaker Rep. Aron Maberry, R-Clarksville, is a former pastor at a nondenominational evangelical church. Maberry was not immediately available for a comment.
Texas, Florida and Louisiana have all passed school chaplain bills. As is true with those other states, Maberry's bill does not require school chaplains to receive a certification from the state Board of Education — a requirement that applies to other school counselors. In Texas, some districts have admitted chaplains as support staff while other districts have made them guidance counselors, according to the Washington Post.
Ten Commandments bill explained: New Tennessee bill would allow Ten Commandments to be placed in public schools
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on social media @liamsadams.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee public schools: Bill to allow districts to hire chaplains
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