Texas students would have greater religious freedom on campuses under new bill
Texas students would have greater freedom to express their religious views on school campuses under a bill passed Saturday by the House and sent to Governor Rick Perry, who has publicly supported the measure. Under the legislation, religious beliefs expressed in homework, artwork, and other assignments would be judged by traditional academic standards. Students couldn't be penalized or rewarded because of the religious content of their work. Supporters say the bill is needed to protect students from censorship and school districts from lawsuits. The cite examples of students being prohibited from wishing troops overseas a "Merry Christmas" or told they couldn't distribute religious bracelets at recess and say the bill writes into law protections already provided by U.S. Supreme Court rulings. But opponents argue it will lead to religious discrimination among students and is an unconstitutional effort to encourage religion over non-religion in the state's public schools. The House had previously amended the bill to say the religious expression or speech could not discriminate against someone else's race, age, sexual preference, or religious belief. The Texas Senate took that amendment out and the House voted to approve the Senate version. Several supporters argued that students should be allowed to express religious beliefs regarding sexual preference or whether their religion is superior to others. Representative Scott Hochberg warned the bill would open up campuses to hate speech. "The only good thing about this bill was the nondiscrimination clause," says Representative Lon Burnam, who predicts it will prompt lawsuits against schools. The bill also requires schools to establish a "limited public forum" at all school events in which students speak. Schools would have to develop a neutral method for selecting students to speak at school events and graduation ceremonies, and provide a written or oral disclaimer that the student's speech was not endorsed by the school district.
Dallas Morning News
By Associated Press
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: For an overview of these issues and another notable attempt by a legislative body in a different level of government to establish statutorily the constitutional parameters for local school boards, see the NSBA resource below.]
[Inside School Law on federal prayer guidance]