Makes ya wonder how many christian nationalists are actually in office that don't give a hoot about either the US constitution or the Texas constitution. Anyway, this is absurd and waiting for a lawsuit to happen, not to mention how bigoted this idea is. What is it? That Texas public schools can decide, rather than hire a qualified guidance counselor, to hire a chaplain instead.

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Unlike school counselors in the state who must have master’s degrees and two years of classroom teaching experience, the chaplains are not required to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification.

Chaplains, however, must pass a background check, be endorsed by a religious organization and must have some training to meet the Department of Defense chaplain standards.

 

Because where every public school being paid for tax dollars wants is some pushy religious types using an office in the school to evangelize. And not even as qualified as what one would hope for their child. Here's really why Texas Lege wants this (cough cough Dan Patrick)

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A chaplain is a certified clergy member who offers spiritual support typically in non-religious settings outside of a church. A school chaplain may be available to counsel and guide students and staff. A chaplain may even lead a prayer, a service, or even teach classes depending on the school.

Note that the kook whose idea this was led a group whose purpose was to evangelize children in schools

Suppose there are students, and there really only has to be one, that does not want to be counseled, prayed with, guided by religions, etc but that is the ONLY counselor in a given school. Unfair and students not being treated equally. Suppose a student were to go to one of these *counselors* and counseled according to the religious beliefs, which quite often are racist and bigoted but had no other possible counselor to go to. Surely an interested parent would want to vocally and actively stop this from happening. Have to assume this is for the purpose of pushing christianity in schools, as opposed to judaism, islam, buddhism or some other flavor of religion. Well, then, which sect of christianity, assuming that having a religious countselor is a good thing that doesn't violate the constitution. Maybe the kind that likes to pray in tongues and handle snakes? Or a religious counselor that believes that gay people should be lined up against a wall and shot ? Or this bigot that told his congregation to punch their kids?

The Southern Baptist Convention released a lit of alleged abusers in 2022. Anyone that wrongly thinks that just because there's some underqualified religious chaplain in a school their children will be safer is kidding themselves. Guidepost Here's just one of them, go look at the list

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41
Listed on Houston Chronicle Database
Cooper Jason J. D.
Cooper
2009 In 2007, Jason J. D. Cooper, pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church, Rayville, LA, convicted of indecent behavior with
a juvenile and oral sexual behavior.
See Also, Victor Mitchell
2 Baptist ministers convicted in sex case, The Daily Advertiser (LA), 8/22/09 (Jason "J.D." Cooper & Victor
Mitchell)
LA Baptist
Type
Unknown
Cordero John
Cordero
2017 John Cordero, youth pastor, Alliance Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TX
Arrested in 2017 for having sex with a 16-year-old girl from the congregation. May 21, 2018, Cordero pleaded
guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child. August 2018, he was
sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by 10 years deferred adjudication probation once he is released.

So, assuming this isn't Abbott signing this bill into law isn't quickly followed up with a lawsuit, what are the provisions a public school would make for a guidance counselor for kids who did not or whose parents did not want to go to a chaplain? They just miss out on a guidance counselor?

P.S. Side notes about bigot chaplains