ABSTRACT
In the 2016 Republican platform, religion and immigration received prominent attention. Concerns about immigration included preserving something called traditional American values and ensuring English as the country's dominant language. Republicans were concerned with maintaining something called "American culture" and making English the United States' (US'.s) official language. This chapter discusses the role of religion in the Republican education agenda and then the issue of culture and language in US schools. Religious advocates were able to include their concerns about school prayers and government funding of faith-based organizations in the 2001 federal legislation No Child Left Behind. The Christian Coalition and other groups had pressed unsuccessfully for a constitutional amendment allowing school prayer and Bible reading. The Christian Coalition is the leading political advocacy group for evangelical Christians. The Christian Coalition was organized in 1989 by televangelist Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed after Pat Robertson's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1988.
