President Trump declared Thursday, January 16, 2020, Religious Freedom Day as a way to “honor the foundational link between freedom and faith in our country and reaffirm our commitment to safeguarding the religious liberty of all Americans.”

Also on Thursday, the president issued renewed guidance ensuring students’ constitutionally protected rights to pray are upheld. The new guidance provides that “local education agencies receiving federal education funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) must certify in writing to its state educational agency that ‘it has no policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public schools as detailed in this updated guidance.’”

Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins highly praised President Trump for specifically addressing the religious freedom of school students and noted, “If schools fail to protect religious freedom, they now run the risk of losing federal funding. With this and his other announced rules, President Trump is continuing the drumbeat of religious freedom and the long march toward restoring religious freedom in the public square.”

News Sources

Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, 2020
The White House

Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
U.S. Department of Education

A Great Religious Freedom Day: Pres. Trump Stands Up for Students' Freedom to Pray, Religious Expression
Family Research Council

PRAISE GOD! President Trump Pledges to Restore Prayer in School
Todd Starnes

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