Even though this is clearly wrong...
And will never pass....Separation of Church and State, um, HELLO?...I'm still pissed that it's being discussed. Am I against Religion? Not in ANY way. Do I agree with this in public school? Not in ANY way.
Private School, folks. Private School.
House: Allow religion in school
Legislature: Bill clarifies rights; critics fear campus evangelizing
08:57 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 1, 2007
By KAREN BROOKS and STACI HUPP / The Dallas Morning News
kmbrooks@dallasnews.com and shupp@dallasnews.com
The House embraced legislation Monday that seeks to clarify the rights of Texas public school students to offer public prayers at football games or graduation, hand out religious messages or hold religious meetings during the school day if they want.
Supporters said the Schoolchildren's Religious Liberties Act, which passed on a 110-33 vote, would protect districts from lawsuits by setting guidelines for students' religious expression while protecting students from being admonished, for example, if they talk about Jesus in an assignment about Easter.
"Freedom of religion should not be taken as freedom from religion," Gov. Rick Perry said. "This was a vote for tolerance of diverse views in our education system so that students are not admonished for wishing a soldier overseas a 'Merry Christmas' or for any other harmless forms of expression."
But opponents who failed to derail the bill said it raises more legal problems than it solves and opens the door to school-sanctioned evangelizing to a captive audience of young people.
"The intent of this bill is to enable people to impose their religious beliefs on people, and I stand four-square against that," said Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who is a Quaker.
"I was one of those students of a minority religion who was frequently subjected to unwanted ... advice and insults when I was in the public schools. I do not believe the intent of the author [to avoid lawsuits]. I believe the intent of the author is to facilitate imposing certain religious values on students regardless of their religious faith."
The bill faces a final procedural vote in the House today, and then it heads to the Senate.
The bill was inspired by lawsuits against school districts from Plano to Santa Fe, Texas, that have curtailed activities such as using school resources to promote a Bible club. In the landmark Santa Fe case, the U.S. Supreme Court said the tiny Gulf Coast school district erred in allowing student-led prayer on school loudspeakers during football games.
The House bill attempts to guide school districts on how to regulate students' speech within the Santa Fe ruling.
Author Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, said repeatedly that the bill "does not allow anything that isn't in the current law."
What the bill does is specify that "a school district shall treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the district treats a student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint" as long as the expression isn't obscene or vulgar and doesn't discriminate against homosexuals or religious beliefs.
Further, the bill says students may not be penalized for expressing religious views in classwork, and they may organize religious meetings and use school facilities like any noncurricular group.
The proposal also directs districts to adopt a policy that establishes a "limited public forum for student speakers at all school events at which a student is to publicly speak." Lawmakers included a suggested protocol for picking student speakers and issuing a disclaimer that students are speaking only for themselves.
The model policy laid out in the bill was drawn up largely by the attorneys at the Liberty Legal Institute, a Plano law group that is part of the socially conservative Texas Free Market Foundation and has sued the Plano school district.
Plano ISD has been at the center of this debate since 2003, when school officials told a student he could not hand out candy cane pens with a religious message during a holiday party.
The boy's parents sued the district in December 2004, alleging a pattern of violating religious rights and free speech. Since then, district officials have tweaked a policy so that students of a certain age may hand out materials at school during specified times.
Robin Morgan, whose 12-year-old son, Jonathan, tried to hand out the candy cane pens as an 8-year-old, said schools have "gone overboard" against religious expression.
"It's very confusing for children to learn what they learn wherever they go to church, whatever faith they are, and to turn that off for the seven hours they are in school," she said. "It's hard to explain to them whatever you're being taught, you can't apply that at school. It doesn't do a lot for their faith."
A decision on the constitutionality of the old and new policies in Plano is pending in federal court.
Richard Abernathy, an attorney for Plano schools, said the district policy aims to prevent disruptions caused not only by religious materials but also by birthday party invitations and love notes.
Opponents "think we are anti-Christian, and that we're out to stop Christianity in the schools, and that's not true," he said.
"We're trying to do what we've been mandated to do by the Legislature and the federal government and still accommodate the First Amendment."
Mr. Abernathy said the suggested model policy probably couldn't offer school districts any legal cover because lawsuits tend to center on the U.S. Constitution rather than state law.
Hiram Sasser, the Liberty Legal lawyer who represents the Plano family and three others, said a change in the law is needed to correct misperceptions about the law.
"I'll bet there are a lot of school districts out there, that their teachers or principals make mistakes and discriminate, thinking that that's what they're supposed to do, when in reality that's a violation of the law," Mr. Sasser said. "A lot of school districts don't train their teachers and principals properly on how not to engage in this kind of religious discrimination."
Mr. Sasser also represents families in the Houston suburb of Katy who say elementary students were admonished during an assignment on Easter.
Students mentioned the Easter Bunny and jelly beans, Mr. Sasser said, and "a little grade-school girl says, 'Jesus.' "
"And the teacher says, 'Well, you can't talk about that here,' " he said.
But critics of the bill said better training would be a better alternative to enacting a law that they say could lead to some students' rights being violated.
"The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that freedom of speech and freedom of religion are vital," said Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston. "That does not include the ability to have religion imposed on you while sitting in a captive audience."
Karen Brooks reported from Austin; Staci Hupp reported from Plano.
EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
The bill on religious expression in schools that the House approved Monday would require school districts to adopt a policy to:
•Establish a "limited public forum" for student speakers at school events that does not discriminate against expressions of faith.
•Develop a neutral method of choosing students to speak at school events and graduation ceremonies.
•Ensure that students don't offer obscene or vulgar speech.
•Declare that the district does not endorse the student's views.
Students would be able to:
•Express religious beliefs in assignments without being penalized for including religious content.
•Organize religious-oriented clubs that would have the same access to school facilities as secular groups.
Arguments for and against:
PRO
•The bill offers protection to students expressing their religious beliefs without requiring students to express a view if they don't want to.
•Religious expression would be treated the same as other types of speech.
•It would give school districts a clear set of guidelines and protection from lawsuits.
CON
•Schools should have discretion over allowing student expression.
•Opening the door to more religious expression could lead to proselytizing and imposing of views on religious minorities.
•Schools' decisions on selecting student speakers could lead to disputes and lawsuits.
Private School, folks. Private School.
House: Allow religion in school
Legislature: Bill clarifies rights; critics fear campus evangelizing
08:57 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 1, 2007
By KAREN BROOKS and STACI HUPP / The Dallas Morning News
kmbrooks@dallasnews.com and shupp@dallasnews.com
The House embraced legislation Monday that seeks to clarify the rights of Texas public school students to offer public prayers at football games or graduation, hand out religious messages or hold religious meetings during the school day if they want.
Supporters said the Schoolchildren's Religious Liberties Act, which passed on a 110-33 vote, would protect districts from lawsuits by setting guidelines for students' religious expression while protecting students from being admonished, for example, if they talk about Jesus in an assignment about Easter.
"Freedom of religion should not be taken as freedom from religion," Gov. Rick Perry said. "This was a vote for tolerance of diverse views in our education system so that students are not admonished for wishing a soldier overseas a 'Merry Christmas' or for any other harmless forms of expression."
But opponents who failed to derail the bill said it raises more legal problems than it solves and opens the door to school-sanctioned evangelizing to a captive audience of young people.
"The intent of this bill is to enable people to impose their religious beliefs on people, and I stand four-square against that," said Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who is a Quaker.
"I was one of those students of a minority religion who was frequently subjected to unwanted ... advice and insults when I was in the public schools. I do not believe the intent of the author [to avoid lawsuits]. I believe the intent of the author is to facilitate imposing certain religious values on students regardless of their religious faith."
The bill faces a final procedural vote in the House today, and then it heads to the Senate.
The bill was inspired by lawsuits against school districts from Plano to Santa Fe, Texas, that have curtailed activities such as using school resources to promote a Bible club. In the landmark Santa Fe case, the U.S. Supreme Court said the tiny Gulf Coast school district erred in allowing student-led prayer on school loudspeakers during football games.
The House bill attempts to guide school districts on how to regulate students' speech within the Santa Fe ruling.
Author Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, said repeatedly that the bill "does not allow anything that isn't in the current law."
What the bill does is specify that "a school district shall treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the district treats a student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint" as long as the expression isn't obscene or vulgar and doesn't discriminate against homosexuals or religious beliefs.
Further, the bill says students may not be penalized for expressing religious views in classwork, and they may organize religious meetings and use school facilities like any noncurricular group.
The proposal also directs districts to adopt a policy that establishes a "limited public forum for student speakers at all school events at which a student is to publicly speak." Lawmakers included a suggested protocol for picking student speakers and issuing a disclaimer that students are speaking only for themselves.
The model policy laid out in the bill was drawn up largely by the attorneys at the Liberty Legal Institute, a Plano law group that is part of the socially conservative Texas Free Market Foundation and has sued the Plano school district.
Plano ISD has been at the center of this debate since 2003, when school officials told a student he could not hand out candy cane pens with a religious message during a holiday party.
The boy's parents sued the district in December 2004, alleging a pattern of violating religious rights and free speech. Since then, district officials have tweaked a policy so that students of a certain age may hand out materials at school during specified times.
Robin Morgan, whose 12-year-old son, Jonathan, tried to hand out the candy cane pens as an 8-year-old, said schools have "gone overboard" against religious expression.
"It's very confusing for children to learn what they learn wherever they go to church, whatever faith they are, and to turn that off for the seven hours they are in school," she said. "It's hard to explain to them whatever you're being taught, you can't apply that at school. It doesn't do a lot for their faith."
A decision on the constitutionality of the old and new policies in Plano is pending in federal court.
Richard Abernathy, an attorney for Plano schools, said the district policy aims to prevent disruptions caused not only by religious materials but also by birthday party invitations and love notes.
Opponents "think we are anti-Christian, and that we're out to stop Christianity in the schools, and that's not true," he said.
"We're trying to do what we've been mandated to do by the Legislature and the federal government and still accommodate the First Amendment."
Mr. Abernathy said the suggested model policy probably couldn't offer school districts any legal cover because lawsuits tend to center on the U.S. Constitution rather than state law.
Hiram Sasser, the Liberty Legal lawyer who represents the Plano family and three others, said a change in the law is needed to correct misperceptions about the law.
"I'll bet there are a lot of school districts out there, that their teachers or principals make mistakes and discriminate, thinking that that's what they're supposed to do, when in reality that's a violation of the law," Mr. Sasser said. "A lot of school districts don't train their teachers and principals properly on how not to engage in this kind of religious discrimination."
Mr. Sasser also represents families in the Houston suburb of Katy who say elementary students were admonished during an assignment on Easter.
Students mentioned the Easter Bunny and jelly beans, Mr. Sasser said, and "a little grade-school girl says, 'Jesus.' "
"And the teacher says, 'Well, you can't talk about that here,' " he said.
But critics of the bill said better training would be a better alternative to enacting a law that they say could lead to some students' rights being violated.
"The Supreme Court has said repeatedly that freedom of speech and freedom of religion are vital," said Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston. "That does not include the ability to have religion imposed on you while sitting in a captive audience."
Karen Brooks reported from Austin; Staci Hupp reported from Plano.
EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
The bill on religious expression in schools that the House approved Monday would require school districts to adopt a policy to:
•Establish a "limited public forum" for student speakers at school events that does not discriminate against expressions of faith.
•Develop a neutral method of choosing students to speak at school events and graduation ceremonies.
•Ensure that students don't offer obscene or vulgar speech.
•Declare that the district does not endorse the student's views.
Students would be able to:
•Express religious beliefs in assignments without being penalized for including religious content.
•Organize religious-oriented clubs that would have the same access to school facilities as secular groups.
Arguments for and against:
PRO
•The bill offers protection to students expressing their religious beliefs without requiring students to express a view if they don't want to.
•Religious expression would be treated the same as other types of speech.
•It would give school districts a clear set of guidelines and protection from lawsuits.
CON
•Schools should have discretion over allowing student expression.
•Opening the door to more religious expression could lead to proselytizing and imposing of views on religious minorities.
•Schools' decisions on selecting student speakers could lead to disputes and lawsuits.