This brief is part of “Election 2024: Policy Playbook,” a series by Rice University and the Baker Institute that offers critical context, analysis, and recommendations to inform policymaking in the United States and Texas.
- The United States and its public schools are more religiously diverse than ever before.
- Conservative Christian activists and officials in several states have implemented laws and policies that weaken church-state separation and promote Christianity and the Bible in public schools.
- These education policies impair the ability of public schools to serve a religiously diverse population — including students, teachers, and staff.
- Education policy must address the need for students to access accurate and balanced information about various major religious traditions that they will encounter in an increasingly diverse society.
Today, the U.S. is more religiously diverse than ever before. According to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), Christianity is still the majority religion (67%), but its share of the population has been declining. The Christian population is itself …