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Republican senators sat aghast Tuesday as Pace High School principal Frank Lay described the religious ban at his public school.
"They stopped wearing crosses," he said of the Panhandle school's faculty. "They put their Bibles away."
Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, urged action.
"We can lose our freedoms in America very fast," he warned.
Under a measure sponsored by Wise, teachers would be allowed to pray with children, behavior long frowned upon by opponents who say mixing faith and public schools marginalizes some students. The legislation passed unanimously Tuesday in the Senate's Education PreK-12 Committee, with proponents defending it as a necessary protection of free speech. Versions of the bill (SB 1580/HB 31) have sailed through other committees in both the Senate and House.
If approved by three-fifths of the House and Senate, the bill (SJR 2550/HB 1399) would be one of many sweeping changes facing voters on the November ballot. It needs 60 percent of the vote to become law.
The bill amounts to "government-run religion," said Courtenay Strickland, director of public policy at the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which organized a news conference against the legislation at the Capitol earlier this week.
I don't want my tax dollars being spent on sending kids to some private christian school. I damn sure wouldn't want my child to be around freaks praying in class led by a teacher!
A bill to be entitled
An act relating to public education; creating s. 1003.4505, F.S.; authorizing district school boards to permit the delivery of an inspirational message at a noncompulsory high school event; providing purpose; providing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. Section 1003.4505, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
1003.4505 Inspirational message.—
(1) District school boards are authorized, but not required, to permit the delivery of an inspirational message, including a prayer or an invocation, at a noncompulsory high school activity, including a student assembly, a sports event, or other school-related activity, if a majority of the participating students request the delivery of an inspirational message and select a student representative to deliver the message.
(2) The purpose of this section is to provide for the solemnization and memorialization of noncompulsory high school events and ceremonies. This section shall not prohibit a school or school official from disciplining students in regard to unprotected speech or behavior that is inappropriate or disruptive.
Originally posted by SlickOil
reply to post by Misoir
LOL, of course they would provide public funds for an Atheist school system. Isn't that what the public school system is now, an Atheist school system?
Originally posted by SlickOil
reply to post by Misoir
LOL, of course they would provide public funds for an Atheist school system. Isn't that what the public school system is now, an Atheist school system?
Originally posted by SlickOil
reply to post by Misoir
.
The school system in this country is a trainwreck because there is little competition.