Religious Freedom Bill Headed to Governor

Legislation that would guarantee that Oklahoma students who express religious views at school are granted the same protections as students expressing secular views was sent to Gov. Brad Henry today.

House Bill 2633, by state Rep. Sally Kern, declares that students may "express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments" without being penalized or rewarded as long as their viewpoint is on the otherwise permissible topic. Under the bill, the otherwise permissible topic is always decided by the school.

"This bill simply ensures that students' First Amendment rights are protected," said Kern, R-Oklahoma City. "This legislation will give teachers and school administrators the guidelines and clarity they need. Unreasonable fear of lawsuits currently leads many school officials to unnecessarily censor students."

"This law will level the playing field for religious students and ensure they are not punished for simply expressing a religious viewpoint," said state Rep. Mike Reynolds, an Oklahoma City Republican who also co-authored the bill. "This legislation complies with U.S. Supreme Court rulings and I am pleased that it received such broad
bipartisan support."

Under the bill's language, students cannot be persecuted or rewarded for discussing religious views at appropriate times. The legislation requires non-discrimination and equal treatment for all Oklahoma students and provides certainty for school administrators.

The legislation effectively codifies established Supreme Court decisions in state law, providing clear guidelines to school officials who have previously been inconsistent in their approach to students' free speech rights.

House Bill 2633 also provides for Oklahoma educators to have more instruction time before students take end-of-year tests.

The bill includes language that would allow schools to administer end-of-instruction tests anytime during the final 25 days of school.

Current law requires that the tests must be administered no earlier than April 10 and "as near as possible to the end of the course."

"Teachers have been asking for more instructional time with students before the end-of-year tests are administered," Kern said. "Giving them more flexibility on the timetable should result in higher test scores."

The relaxed testing schedule will reduce the problems now created by taking a "one size fits all approach" to the more than 500 school districts in Oklahoma, Kern noted.

"Under the current schedule, a few bad weather days can really create problems for school officials who deal with a lot of uncertainty waiting for the state Department of Education to approve a new testing date," Kern said. "Also, not every school district begins the school year on the same date, which means some districts have more instructional time than others."

House Bill 2633 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 70-28 vote on Tuesday and now goes to Gov. Brad Henry to be signed into law. The bill previously passed the Senate 48-0.