Opponents of the legislation fear that replacing professional counselors with unlicensed chaplains could worsen the state’s already severe mental health crisis. Credit: Shutterstock / iVazoUSky

Unlicensed chaplains could soon allowed to work in Texas public schools after the GOP-controlled state legislature signed off on a bill Wednesday that critics charge is an attempt to let Christian groups evangelize on campus.

Under Senate Bill 763, school districts could use public funds to hire unlicensed chaplains to work alongside counselors, psychologists and other professional mental health workers, the Texas Tribune reports. What’s more, volunteer chaplains would also be allowed in schools.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who’s repeatedly sided with evangelical Christians, is widely expected to sign the measure into law.

Conservative Christian lawmakers argued that bringing chaplains into schools could help young people resist drugs, suicide and violence, the Tribune reports.

However, Democrats and civil-rights groups argued that the chaplains could exacerbate the state’s already significant mental health woes since the chaplains wouldn’t be required to have any training in counseling children.

“Chaplains who are not certified as school counselors are not properly equipped to deal with the complex problems that arise in a public school setting,” FFRF Action FundAction Fund State Policy Manager Ryan Dudley said in testimony against the bill. “School counselors in Texas must complete a series of rigorous requirements culminated by passing the [state] certification exam. Allowing a chaplain to bypass these requirements will be as much a disservice to students as it will be a danger to those in crisis who seek legitimate, professional counselors.”

Further, opponents of the bill, which was pushed by national conservative Christian groups, said it violates the Constitution by allowing clergy to force religion on students.

“The same Texas politicians trying to control what students think by banning books and censoring curricula now want to dictate what students worship,” the ACLU of Texas said in an emailed statement. “This bill is part of a coordinated campaign by conservative Christian-based organizations and their legislative champions to force state-sponsored religion into public schools without parental consent.”

SB 763 was delayed last week after House members tried to add an amendment that would require the chaplains be accredited similarly to those who serve in the military or in prisons, the Tribune reports. That amendment was rejected during negotiations between the two chambers.

The school chaplains bill is likely to face legal challenges. It was one of many bills introduced by Republican lawmakers this session intended to force Christianity into secular life. A measure that would have required every public school classroom in Texas to display the Ten Commandments died in the House on Tuesday.

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This article appears in May 17-30, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...