When It Comes to Texas Public Schools, Jesus Is Already in the Building
A controversial new law allows chaplains to replace school counselors. School districts—and campus ministries—across the state are largely unfazed.
Bekah McNeel is a journalist living in San Antonio who writes about education, immigration, and religion. She is the author of Bringing Up Kids When the Church Lets You Down.
A controversial new law allows chaplains to replace school counselors. School districts—and campus ministries—across the state are largely unfazed.
By Bekah McNeel
Billionaires here are funding right-wing politicians to knock down barriers between church and state. But a small countermovement is now rising to meet them.
By Bekah McNeel
Texas’s attorney general is suing to revoke the license of a Catholic migrant aid center in El Paso. Leaders of such aid groups say they’re simply practicing their faith.
By Bekah McNeel
Baylor University is one of many religious institutions that have received religious exemptions to federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
By Bekah McNeel
At “Take Our Border Back” rallies across Texas, the convoy’s Christian nationalist rhetoric was on wide display. But not all soldiers are equally devout.
By Bekah McNeel
He’s one of the first faith-based coordinators for Texas inmates facing the death penalty. He’s scheduled to be executed this week.
By Bekah McNeel
Progressive faith leaders and women’s health advocates are adopting the messaging to push for a 12-month Medicaid extension for postpartum care.
By Bekah McNeel
Months-long preparations, complete with celebrity guests, pep rallies, and theme days, have turned a standardized test into an anxiety-ridden circus for kids.
By Bekah McNeel
In a post-Roe Texas, cities such as San Antonio have tried to protect reproductive health care—but a state government big on preemption has other plans.
By Bekah McNeel
The fifteen-member State Board of Education will determine how public school educators and textbooks teach issues such as sexual orientation and race.
By Bekah McNeel
By declaring that “evil will always walk among us” or calling for Texans to “unify in faith,” politicians communicate specific ideas to the electorate.
By Bekah McNeel
Undermining public schools has been a winning strategy for governors in several states. But for many rural, conservative communities in Texas, such schools are the only game in town.
By Bekah McNeel
Six months ago, three year-old Lina Sardar Khil disappeared. The search for her has been hampered by Islamophobia.
By Bekah McNeel
The group’s copresident calls the move “baby steps” for the 175-year-old Baptist university.
By Bekah McNeel
In many of Texas’s rapidly growing exurbs, such schools have been fast-tracked to keep pace with exploding student populations.
By Bekah McNeel