Despite constitutional concerns from opponents, the Texas Legislature passed a bill May 23 to allow a period for prayer or religious study — part of a larger national movement to infuse more Christianity into schools.
The House gave final ap proval to the bill 88-48, after spending hours on Thursday debating the measure and casting a key vote that showed all the Republicans who were present and a handful of Democrats in favor. The Senate had voted 23-7 for the measure in March. The bill goes now to Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it.
The bill, Senate Bill 11 by Galveston Republican Sen. Mayes Middleton, allows school districts to adopt a policy to provide students and staff a daily period of prayer or time to read a religious text. It sets an effective date of Sept. 1.
