Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have proposed legislation to allow spiritual chaplains in public schools, a move that proponents say will ease a youth mental health crisis, bolster staff retention and offer spiritual care to students who can’t afford or access religious schools.
Conservatives also argue religious foundations will act as a “rescue mission” for what they say are public schools’ declining values, a topic that has galvanized Republican-controlled Legislatures to fight for issues such as parental oversight of curriculum, restrictions on books and instruction on gender identity and state-funded tuition assistance for private and religious schools.
But many chaplains and interfaith organizations oppose the chaplaincy campaign, calling the motivation offensive and describing the dangers of introducing a position of authority to children without clear standards or boundaries.
The thing is, they can shut it down simply by participating, and sending over qualified candidates to do the job. Then, all the people who were advocates of hiring these chaplains will all of a sudden start objecting, once they realize some posts won’t go to people they pre-approved of.
There aren’t really any qualifications to be a chaplain in the schools with some of the laws being passed. So anything that you might consider a qualification makes the person over qualified