News

First Liberty & Coach Kennedy Testify Before Texas Legislature

by Jorge Gomez • 5 minutes

Thanks to First Liberty’s precedent-setting victories at the U.S. Supreme Court , a seismic change to religious freedom law is taking place. After nearly 50 years of hostility toward public religious expression, state legislatures, courts, local governments are starting to correct the many wrongs that previous bad precedents caused to religious expression.

With legal precedent more favorable toward religious freedom, the Texas Legislature is actively considering several bills to strengthen religious liberty protections for both public students and employees, allowing them to have more freedom to live out their faith.

Displaying the Ten Commandments in Public Schools

Former Representative Matt Krause, an independent legal and policy advisor to First Liberty, recently testified in support of SB 10, a proposal that requires the posting of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms. Krause’s full testimony can be viewed here.

“Displaying The Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms is consistent with Supreme Court decisions that recognize the religious heritage and the best of the nation’s history and traditions,” Krause said. “The Ten Commandments are a symbol of law and moral conduct with both religious and secular significance which provide valuable lessons for students. We applaud Texas legislators for taking this bold step for religious liberty.”

Krause was joined by our friends and American historians David and Tim Barton of WallBuilders. Their organization is dedicated to preserving our country’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious and constitutional foundation on which America was built.

“The Ten Commandments are part of our Texas and American story,” said state Sen. Phil King, who introduced the legislation. “They are ingrained into who we are as a people and as a nation. Today, our students cry out for the moral clarity, for the statement of right and wrong that they represent. If our students don’t know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law.”

Sen. King argues that the proposal is legally feasible because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, First Liberty’s case involving Coach Joe Kennedy.

“SB 10 follows the historic 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision which overturned a faulty legal precedent used since 1980 to prohibit these displays,” King added. “This legislation is in accord with the history and traditions of our state and nation. It will help ensure our students understand and appreciate the role of the Ten Commandments in our heritage, our system of law, and their impact throughout Western Civilization.”

Protecting Religious Expression for Public School Employees

The Legislature is also deliberating on SB965. Introduced by Sen. Tan Parker, the bill is intended to protect the rights of school district and charter school employees to engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty.

Coach Kennedy traveled to Austin to testify in support of it, as well the Ten Commandments bill. He emphasized that both proposals offer an opportunity to correct the stifling of religious expression in public education.

“People have so much fear over religion, but that’s not what our education system is about,” Coach Kennedy told the Senate Committee on Education. “The opportunity for people to pray and see the Ten Commandments, these are the fundamentals that we’ve had since the beginning of our country.”

“Players, coaches, principals, superintendents, lunch ladies and many more people don’t have the opportunity to have a moment of prayer in public school,” Coach Kennedy added. “That’s un-American. That’s not what the First Amendment says. This bill rectifies that.”

“Great to welcome Coach Joe Kennedy to the Capitol!,” Sen. Parker posted on X. “His Supreme Court victory affirmed the right of public-school employees to pray without fear of punishment. Yesterday in the Senate Committee on State Affairs, we heard my bill, SB 965, based on the Kennedy case, to ensure Texas law protects religious freedom for school employees.”

During today’s Senate Education K-16 Committee hearing, I had the honor of hearing powerful testimony on the importance of protecting religious freedom from Coach Joe Kennedy and Pastor Richard Vega. Grateful for their voices, and those of so many others standing strong to defend… pic.twitter.com/IDFJdAA51D

— Senator Tan Parker (@TanParkerTX) March 5, 2025

Sen. Mayes Middleton introduced SB 11, a similar bill that would give school districts the option to “adopt a policy requiring every campus of the district or school to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text on each school day.”

“I filed Senate Bill 11 to protect the freedom to pray in school,” Sen. Middleton wrote on X. “Our schools are not God-free zones. This bill restores prayer in our public schools…This legislation builds on the victory of the Coach Kennedy case in the US Supreme Court by protecting religious freedom in our schools.”

Religious References in School Curriculum

The Texas Legislature directed the Texas Education Agency to create Bluebonnet Learning as a resource for school districts. The high-quality elementary math and reading curriculum covers 100% of all state standards as outlined in Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). TEKS requires instruction in “religious literature, including Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on history and literature.”

First Liberty sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency and all Texas public schools affirming the constitutionality of the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum with its historical biblical references. We sent the letter in response to erroneous claims by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that the state-approved curriculum should be banned.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that education is not complete without the study of the history of religion and its impact on the advancement of civilization,” said Keisha Russell, Senior Counsel at First Liberty. “Religion, and especially Christianity, played a central role in the history of this country and any suggestion that teaching it is unconstitutional doesn’t align with the law.”

Our letter provides examples of how the curriculum uses biblical references to teach history. For example, “When studying Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, students analyze the Old Testament book of Daniel and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s trial by fire. King discusses this story in his letter because he too was persecuted because he believed God compelled him to act. Given King’s influence over the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is imperative that students learn about King and his motivations.”

It’s unconstitutional for the government to reject a curriculum simply because of its religious references. Far from mandating its removal, the First Amendment supports Bluebonnet Learning because of the vital, unique role the Bible and faith play in American history.