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Texas governor signs religious student expression law
Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act to take effect at beginning of 2007-2008 school year
© 2007 Student Press Law Center
June 14, 2007
TEXAS — A measure signed into law by Gov. Rick
Perry (R) on June 8 will protect students' rights to religious expression in the
state's public schools.
The Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act,
sponsored by Rep. Charlie Howard (R-Sugar Land), prevents public school
districts from punishing students who express a religious viewpoint in
"homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments." Supporters of the
act said it was necessary because it affirms students' free speech rights but
critics have said the act may result in increased hurtful, discriminatory speech
on school campuses.
Howard said confusion about student expression on
school grounds has misled administrators to believe that they can rightfully ban
students from saying "Merry Christmas" or stop them from passing out candy
canes. Howard said the bill will not only benefit student expression, but will
also prevent school districts from getting sued and taxpayers from losing money
from these suits.
"The whole purpose of this was to create a win-win-win
situation," Howard said.
House Bill 3678, which passed with a 107-32
vote in the House and a 28-2 vote in the Senate, also requires school districts
to establish a "limited public forum" at school events, including graduation and
sports games, that will enable students to express themselves without fear of
being disciplined. The bill also requires schools to provide a method based on
"neutral criteria" of selecting student speakers for these events.
The
bill encountered much opposition in the Texas legislature because some feared
that the bill created new, extra-constitutional rights and others said it would
open up the possibility of discriminatory speech, said Rep. Warren Chisum
(R-Pampa), chair of the Texas house of appropriations committee and a co-sponsor
of the bill.
Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth), a Quaker, and Rep. Scott
Hochberg (D-Houston), who is Jewish, spoke out against the bill over concerns
that it would favor students of majority faiths.
Hochberg said the
section of the bill that requires schools to select the students who will speak
at public forum events will likely increase rather than reduce the number of
lawsuits brought against school districts for religious
discrimination.
"When you send your child to a public school you ought to
believe that the school is religiously neutral," he said.
But Howard said
the new law seeks to protect secular and non-Christian speech as well and does
"not protect one religion over another."
The House originally amended the
bill to stipulate that allowable religious speech could not discriminate against
someone else's race, age, sexuality or religious beliefs, but the Senate deleted
this clause in its own amendments.
Howard said the House's amendment was
removed because it would have put the bill's constitutionality into question.
The Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act will take effect at the
beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year.
By Judy Wang, SPLC staff
writer
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