EDITORIALS/Comfort or Coercion? Do chaplains belong in Texas public schools?

On Wednesday, lawmakers in Texas approved legislation allowing religious chaplains to work in public schools.

It now goes to the governor.

The chaplains could be paid by school safety funds or work on a volunteer basis. School boards would be given six months to decide whether to allow chaplains in their districts. Boards could even replace professional counselors with chaplains.

As it stands, the legislation has almost no guidance on who these chaplains would be, what, if any, qualifications they must have or how they would operate.

Some lawmakers tried to amend the bill to require the same kind of certification or professional requirements for school chaplains as required of those in the military or prison system. There were also proposals that schools chaplains serve all faiths and that chaplains be restricted from trying to convert students to their particular religion or denomination.

All failed.

The bill's backers say school boards are free to set their own requirements for chaplains. Opponents fear chaplains could be employed to push a particular religious agenda. They also worry that, with no requirements for professional mental health training, unqualified chaplains could do more harm than good.

We want to know what you think? Should religious chaplains be allowed in public schools? Should the Legislature rethink the bill and tighten professional and ethical requirements? Or are you against the idea?

Send your response (50 words maximum) to [email protected] by Wednesday, May 31. You can also mail your response to the Texarkana Gazette Friday Poll, at P.O. Box 621, Texarkana, TX 75504 or drop it off at our office, 101 E. Broad St, Texarkana, Ark. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. We will print as many responses as we can in next Friday's paper.

Last Week: Politicians of Parents?

Last week's question was about the Texas Legislature voting to ban gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. Is the Texas Legislature right to ban almost all gender-affirming care for minors? Or should parents and physicians make those decisions?

Parent-Physician. Radical right wing autocrats want absolute power over us from historical book banning, invasion into our healthcare decisions and trying to nationalize Disney. In 2021, 42,000 pre-18 children were diagnosed with gender dysphoria out of 330,000,000 US citizens. Why would this ever be a governmental issue? -- J.W., Texarkana, Texas

I am liberal, but I find that gender affirming care is wrong. Parents should allow kids to go through puberty and by then these kids will know mentally and physically how they want to go through the rest of their lives. However, I am still sick of Republican state legislators that want to run everyone's lives and taking everyone's choices, away. Just because you're conservative doesn't mean I want to live your life no more then you want to live mine. "Choice." -- R.K., Texarkana, Texas

From facebook.com/texarkanagazette

- Politicians once again sticking their noses where it don't belong. If the MAGAs were as passionate about solving the "problems" they whine about on a daily basis as they are of passing such laws as this, the border might be closed by now. but of course we know the MAGA's have NO plans or solutions for REAL problems

- Well, all I know is that we're not cookie cutters! Every person is an INDIVIDUAL & no matter what the healthcare is. We should all be treated as INDIVIDUALS. Idk what the problem is with the United States healthcare system but it is extremely flawed. Why were people even allowed to mess with their gender in the first place?!? Oh & now politicians & medical professionals are going to mess with it all some more?

- Leave the innocent children alone. This country needs Jesus so desperately.

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