Prayers In Public Schools: Who’s For It And Who’s Against It?

(ANALYSIS) I’ve always found survey questions about prayer in public schools somewhat difficult to interpret because the context matters so much.

For example, what if a local school district simply offers a quiet time for students to meditate or read? Students could choose to pray during this period, but it wouldn’t be mandatory. Or what if the teacher guides the class in a moment of self-reflection, encouraging students to set their intentions for the day?

The concept of “prayer in public school” seems largely dependent on how explicitly religious those prayers are. That’s why I was particularly interested in a clear, unambiguous question included in the Pew Religious Landscape Study 2023-2024 (hosted by the ARDA).

The survey asked respondents: "Allowing public school teachers to lead their classes in prayer that refer to Jesus: favor or oppose?"

That’s about as direct as it gets—Christian prayers led by teachers in public schools.

Nationwide, 27% of respondents strongly favored this, and another 26% favored it. Together, that’s just over half of American adults supporting teacher-led, explicitly Christian prayer.

However, when breaking down responses by respondents' decade of birth, a much richer and more nuanced story emerges.

You can read the rest of Ryan Burge’s post on Substack.

---

Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, a pastor in the American Baptist Church and the co-founder and frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience. His research focuses on the intersection of religiosity and political behavior, especially in the U.S. Follow him on X at @ryanburge.