5 highlights from Trump's Religious Liberty Commission hearing

3. Teacher describes her battle with school district over crucifix in her classroom

One panel featured several individuals affiliated with public schools who have found themselves unable to express their faith and deeply held religious beliefs.

Notable speakers included Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach in Washington State whose quest to pray on the field before games ended up going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Monica Gill, a teacher in Loudoun County, Virginia, who spoke out against her school district’s policy requiring teachers to refer to trans-identified students by their new chosen names and pronouns. 

One of the other speakers, teacher Marisol Arroyo-Castro, detailed the legal battles she has engaged in with her school district over the presence of a crucifix in her classroom: “My principal told me that we were to worship no idols. He said that I should take the crucifix down to stay true to my Christian faith. That felt offensive to me as a Catholic. Still, I wanted to appease them and avoid more threats or conflicts. Therefore, I reluctantly [agreed] to move the cross.” 

Castro testified about how, as she attempted to put the crucifix away, she “became aware of how much it actually weighed” and “how strong the wood was.” This prompted her to remember “the scripture that says we should not hide our light under a bushel.” 

Castro ended up crying over her decision to hide the crucifix under her desk, concluding that “I had let my papa God down.”

She decided to restore the crucifix to its previous location, which resulted in her receiving a two-day unpaid suspension. Castro did not return to the classroom and retained the services of First Liberty Institute as she pursued litigation against her employer. 

After Castro finished telling her story, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chair of the Religious Liberty Commission, invited her to continue her teaching career in Texas.