News Articles
Lawmakers seek to protect prayer
Fort Myers News-Press, March 23, 2010
BY BILL COTTERELL • THE NEWS-PRESS CAPITAL BUREAU
1:10 A.M. -- TALLAHASSEE -- The principal, football coach and former student body president of Pace High School successfully urged a House committee Monday to approve a bill forbidding public school officials from interfering with student-led prayer.
Two officials of the American Civil Liberties Union and a few members of the House Civil Justice and Courts Policy Committee warned, however, that the rights of religious minorities -and those who don't believe in God - would be infringed by the proposal sponsored by Reps. Greg Evers, R-Baker, and Brad Drake, R-Eucheeanna.
The committee listened to about an hour of testimony before approving the proposal (HB 31), which was prompted by a consent degree in Santa Rosa County last year. The federal court settlement provides that school officials will not lead students in prayer, bring outside persons to school-related events for invocations, or "posture in a manner that is likely to be perceived as an endorsement of the prayer" if one is voluntarily started by students.
Mary Allen, a first-year student at Florida State University, told the committee she was forbidden to speak at her graduation last year because school employees "might have" participated in her selection and she "might have" mentioned God.
"There was a great amount of angst, intimidation and downright disturbance on our at our school," Pace High Principal Frank Lay said.
He said some teachers who wore crosses or had personal Bibles in school rooms felt they had to remove them and students were "quite disturbed" about whether they could legally pray at school-related events.
Drake said the bill forbids school boards, administrators and teachers from "discouraging or inhibiting student delivery of inspirational message at non-compulsory high school activity."
ACLU attorney Benjamin Stevenson, who was involved in the Santa Rosa litigation, said teachers and leaders of school clubs had been calling for prayer or leading other sectarian activities at school events.
Courtenay Strickland, public-policy director for the ACLU, said the organization does not want to stop anyone from freely exercising their rights, but didn't want any public officials involved.
"If a teacher prays in school with a Christian student, for instance, but not with the Jewish or Muslim students, that could send a message that the school approves of one religion," Strickland said.
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