Missouri Sen. Nick Schroer wants the state’s schoolchildren to be taught that the separation of church and state has religious origins.
That’s one of 19 items related to the “positive impacts of religion on American history” that public school districts and charter schools would be legally mandated to teach children under a proposal Schroer filed for the 2026 legislative session.
The bill from Schroer, a St. Charles County Republican, represents just one of several ideas that could integrate religion into the school day. Proposals include adding Ten Commandments posters to public school classrooms, releasing students from class for religious instruction and reinforcing the right to religious expression in public school.
The proposals come after Missouri lawmakers allowed religious chaplains in public schools last year and just a few years after they explicitly allowed schools to teach elective social studies classes about Hebrew Scriptures and the Bible.
These bills could represent another step toward intermingling religion and public schools, or they could fail before reaching the governor’s desk. Here’s what lawmakers have proposed.
Displaying the Ten Commandments
Two lawmakers want to require public school districts and charter schools to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom.
The lawmakers specify the exact wording that should be included, a paraphrase of the biblical texts including “thee” and “thou” pronouns. The wording doesn’t include numbers and is divided into 11 sentences separated by line breaks.
Religious traditions tend to number the commandments differently. The list could be compatible with more than one way of listing the commandments. But it would be difficult to harmonize with all of them.
For example, for Catholics the ninth commandment forbids coveting your neighbor’s wife, while the 10th forbids coveting your neighbor’s goods. The Lutheran numbering includes two commandments about coveting.
The text required by the bills combines all forms of coveting in a single final sentence: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
Both proposals specify the minimum size of the display and say the text must be the primary focus, presented in a large, readable font. School boards may spend public money to purchase the displays or accept donations.
The two bills are:
- House Bill 1612, sponsored by Republican Rep. Hardy Billington of Poplar Bluff.
- House Bill 1994, sponsored by Republican Rep. Bill Irwin of Lee’s Summit.
Talking about religion in school
Missouri law already protects religious freedom in public schools.
A proposal sponsored by Republican Rep. John Black of Marshfield, House Bill 2121, would require schools to post information alerting students and staff to their religious rights.
The posted information would remind students that they can express their religious beliefs, pray or read the Bible during free time and include their beliefs in assignments when relevant. They also can decide whether to organize or join religious clubs or gatherings, if similar secular activities are allowed.
It would remind staff that they can discuss their faith with fellow employees, sponsor student religious clubs, have their faith accommodated and be free from discrimination as required by law. They also can discuss the impact of religion on history and culture when relevant to their subject.
The statement would be posted in a prominent location in each school building.
Two other proposals would extend similar freedom from discrimination based on political or ideological beliefs and reinforce the ability to have religious clubs.
House Bill 2682, filed by Republican Rep. Darin Chappell of Rogersville, and Senate Bill 909, filed by Republican Sen. Brad Hudson of Cape Fair, have already been approved by committees in the House and Senate, respectively. The committee votes were along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.
Both bills would add political and ideological expression to the list of beliefs that schools cannot discriminate against.
The bills also specify that schools can’t discriminate against student clubs due to religious, political or ideological beliefs or “any requirement that the leaders or members of the club affirm and adhere to the organization’s sincerely held beliefs, comply with the organization’s standards of conduct, or further the organization’s mission or purpose, as defined by the student organization.”
Religion and history
A Missouri senator wants to go beyond reminding teachers they can talk about religion when relevant. He wants to require that they “provide instruction on the positive impacts of religion on American history.”
Senate Bill 1238, sponsored by Schroer, lists 19 “historical accounts” that should be part of instruction in public school districts and charter schools.
Many of the required items focus on American colonists, the Revolutionary War, U.S. founders, founding documents and early American history.
For example, item 12 is: “The history of the concept of the separation of church and state dating back to its religious origins with Roger Williams.” Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of his support for religious freedom.
Item 15 focuses on the response to “The Age of Reason,” in which Thomas Paine professes belief in one God but criticizes organized religion, particularly Christianity, and the Bible and promotes deism. Paine was also the author of the pro-American independence pamphlet “Common Sense.”
The bill would require students to learn about negative reactions to “The Age of Reason,” “including Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion that he burn it.”
It doesn’t mention that Franklin, whose appeal for prayer at the constitutional convention figures in another item on the list, also described himself as a deist. A historian who wrote a book about Franklin’s religious life said his beliefs were complicated.
There’s a single item about the influence of religion in the Civil Rights Movement “through men like Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others.” Students should also learn about the cultural impact of religious leaders such as evangelist and Southern Baptist minister Billy Graham, the bill says.
Leaving school for religious instruction
A pair of bills are aimed at allowing students to participate in religious instruction during the school day.
Senate Bill 1165, from Republican Sen. Mike Moon of Ash Grove, says students would be excused from class for up to three class periods per week or 125 class periods per year to attend a course on religion or morals taught by another entity away from school property. Their parents or guardians would have to approve.
Aside from minimal costs of administering the program, schools wouldn’t be allowed to spend money providing the instruction or transporting students. But they would award elective credit for the classes, using a neutral and secular evaluation method. They’d also be responsible for scheduling, ensuring students didn’t miss English, math, science or U.S. history classes.
House Bill 2157, sponsored by Republican Rep. Josh Hurlbert of Smithville, is similar but would allow students to be released for religious instruction for one to five hours per week. The classes would have to be held off of school property unless they use school property as part of a neutral program available to community groups.
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
