One particularly egregious bill is SB1269. Sponsored by Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-LD7) — known for her praise of white nationalists, for perpetuating the racist conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement” theory, and for saying that church:state separation is a “myth” — SB1269 would allow schools to replace trained school counselors with volunteer religious chaplains.Rep. David Marshall (R-Snowflake) explained his support for the bill by saying, “I think Jesus is a lot better than a psychologist.” And Rep. Matt Gress (R-LD4) said “I’ve heard that there is a mental health crisis afflicting kids. Now I don’t necessarily think in many of these cases that something is medically wrong with kids. I think, perhaps, there is a spiritual deficit that needs to be addressed.”
However, in reality, volunteer chaplains’ religious training doesn’t mean they are professionally equipped to handle the many issues that come up in school counseling, such as depression, anxiety, abuse, self-harm and suicidal ideation. As Secular AZ Legal Director Dianne Post put in a letter to the Education Committee:
The issues of children in school are a real-world problem that require a real-world solution, not a plea for nonexistent supernatural intervention. Chaplains as the answer is an admission you intend to do nothing meaningful or practical to help children.
An amendment proposed by Gress would have made this bill even more harmful, adding language that assures that only members of majority religious groups would be “qualified” to participate, eliminating members of minority or less-well-funded religious groups.
School administrators can exclude chaplains if their pedagogy differs from that of the school or do not acknowledge “the existence of… one or more supernatural entities” that have “power over the natural world.” This (purposefully) vague language would eliminate atheists, Humanists, and The Satanic Temple from participating (TST has already requested to serve as chaplains if the bill passes.)
SB1269 clearly violates the Establishment Clause… and it’ll be on the House floor on 4/15/25. Contact your own representatives and tell them you oppose this bill. If you want to write your representatives, here are tips and a template to make it easier for you.
Other bills that violate church:state separation.
- SB2058: Exempts adult students from vaccine requirements based on personal beliefs, not science. Not based in science/facts; public health hazard.
- SB2063: Schools must tell parents about ways to be exempt from vaccine requirements. Not based in science/facts; public health hazard.
- HB2062: Would remove gender-related terms in AZ law and replace with sex-related terms, effectively erasing trans, non-binary and intersex people.
Contact your own representatives and ask them to oppose:
- SB1256: Prevents state agencies or contractors from providing or requiring DEI in hiring, training and promotion, and promotes white Christian nationalism.
- SB1584: Forces public schools hiring policies to be based solely on “merit” and encourages individuals to sue for claims of reverse racism. Would lead to discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, etc.