Voluntary School Prayer Protection Act of 2025

This bill ties federal education funding to how public schools handle student prayer. It says the Department of Education may not give money to any state or local school system that has a policy that denies or effectively stops people from taking part in voluntary, constitutionally protected prayer at public schools. A summary of the bill explains this the same way: funding would be cut off for school systems that restrict voluntary school prayer that is constitutionally protected.

The bill also makes clear that no one can be required to pray, and no one can control the form or words of any constitutionally protected prayer in public schools.

• Who is affected: Students and staff in public schools; state and local school agencies that receive federal education funds .
• What changes: Federal funds could be withheld if a school system blocks or effectively prevents voluntary, constitutionally protected prayer; schools also cannot force anyone to pray or shape the content of a prayer.
• Day-to-day impact: Students may pray voluntarily at school if it’s constitutionally protected, and schools risk losing federal funding if they stop that from happening .