AP poll: Majority of Americans support public school chaplains

The majority of Americans support allowing public schools to have chaplains available to offer support to students, a recent AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey found.

AP News reported that the survey found a nuanced view toward religion’s presence in public schools. Roughly 6 in 10 US adults said that public schools should be allowed to have chaplains, but almost the same number opposed teacher-led prayer or mandatory prayer times during the school day. US adults were also more likely to oppose publicly funded religious charter schools than they were to support it (43% vs 23%).

The survey found that white evangelical Christians (82%), non-white Protestants (76%), Catholics (61%), and white mainline Protestants (56%) are most likely to support religious chaplains in public schools, compared with 41% of those with no religious affiliation. Republicans are also more likely than Democrats to approve of chaplains in public schools (70% vs 47%), teachers leading prayers in the classroom (60% vs 29%), and mandatory prayer times (49% vs 27%). 

Regarding tax-funded religious charter schools, AP News reported that the survey found no majority support or opposition among any main religious demographic. About 4 in 10 white evangelicals support religious charter schools, while about 3 in 10 Catholics and black Protestants also support them. Similar numbers in the same demographics opposed religious charter schools.

US adults were also divided on allowing families to use tax-funded vouchers to send their children to religious schools instead of public schools, a program that several states have implemented in recent years.

The survey also asked respondents to give their thoughts on other often-disputed views of public schools. Thirty-two percent said religion has too much influence on what children are taught in public school, compared with 38% who said religion has too little influence. About half of respondents supported requiring public schools to give parents lists of books available to their children, compared with 14% who opposed it. 

The survey also found that US adults consider freedom of speech (85%), freedom of religion (81%), and freedom of the press (71%) to be more important to the country’s identity than the separation of church and state (64%).

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