Texas Delegate Pitches Bill to Prohibit the Promotion of Religion onto Children in Texas Public Schools 

By Marin Patterson 

W.B Ray High School 

On the morning of November 15th, 2025, a Texas Delegate by the name of Srishti Attelli decided to put a foot forward into the world of religion in schools. She prepared and presented the Bill HB095, an act that would prohibit any and all forceful promotions of any religion towards children in Texas public schools. 

In her opening statement, Delegate Attelli stated, ‘I’m talking about stopping children from feeling pressured into endorsing one single belief, and stopping where students are made to feel excluded for not practicing a certain religious belief.’ She portrayed that she is an avid believer of either all religions get represented and taught about, or none of them do, ultimately leaving it up to the children who would be learning about it. She then went on to state that any school staff members who violated this bill would receive a warning for the first offense, a suspension for the second, and complete termination for the third. Schools who violate this bill, on the other hand, would receive budget cuts, and a reduction of funds as a form of punishment. 

After her opening statement the process then accelerated to the questions portion. Delegate Dye, another member present, proceeded to ask, “Where I’m from, there is a school where it is all about religion,and students go there because they choose to learn about Christianity. Would your bill put a stop to religious schools teaching their beliefs?” Delegate Attelli then answered with this statement, “According to my bill, if the school’s funds come from the state, then it is up to the state if they decide this school adheres to this act or not.” According to this question and answer, and another question that was asked later on, Delegate Attelli’s bill only affects public schools in the state of Texas. So if the school is a private school, for example, or the school’s money does NOT come from the state, then it is ultimately up to that school if they want to continue teaching religion or not. It is only the public schools that would have to stop their religious teachings and stop forcing it onto their students. 

After the questions had been asked, of which there were very few as Delegate Attelli proved to be very thorough with her first answer and her opening statement, the session moved on to the pros and cons section. There were actually no delegates who chose to speak up about any pros and/or cons, when asked why, Delegate Dye simply stated, “[Delegate Attelli] was very thorough and final, I simply did not feel the need to speak up any more as everything that needed to be said had already been put out.” 

So Delegate Attelli quickly progressed into her closing statement, which can be summarized in this quote from her, “Imagine being a child in the classroom whose beliefs are called ‘wrong,’ and you must conform to following the beliefs of others just so you can belong. No child should feel that pressure, and my bill will put a full stop to that. 

In conclusion, Delegate Attelli and several others in the room were sure that her bill would provide substantial, beneficial changes to public schools all across Texas, as the bill received favorable recommendation and was a success in being formed. 

To officially end this article, here is an exclusive interview between me, and Srishti Attelli.

YG Media: Did you go to a public school? 

Delegate Attelli: Yes. 

YG Media: What was your thought process coming up with this bill?

Delegate Attelli: I was looking into current day issues and studying the Ten Commandments that were recently passed in the Senate, and I decided to write something to combat that, so it wouldn’t be about one religion specifically, and that all are equally important. 

YG Media: And have you personally encountered any religious indigents at your past schools and/or current life? 

Delegate Attelli: No I have not but I know that at many schools there have been several reported incidents proving religion to be a center issue, so I thought it was important to enforce something. 

YG Media: Do you know anybody from your past schools and/or in your current life that has encountered this issue? 

Delegate Attelli: At my school there were many kids who definitely did, and while I don’t know everyone personally I believe there are kids like that everywhere. There are a lot of dominant religions all over Texas so minorities often feel inferior and out of place, which is not okay. 

YG Media: At the high school you went to, would you say it was very pressured and centered around one specific belief? 

Delegate Attelli: Not at my school specifically, there were people promoting religions but nothing was ever forced onto us. 

YG Media: So you would say your high school was very diverse? 

Delegate Attelli: Yes. 

YG Media: So you would admire other schools to be like your school? 

Delegate Attelli: Yes, it was one of my inspirations for writing this bill. 

YG Media: Great! So as my final question, what was the most memorable question that you had been asked? 

Delegate Attelli: I think that every question that regarded private schools was very important as that was something I hadn’t really looked into, and then we opened to revising. 

YG Media: Okay, thank you!