U.S. SCHOOLS Spurred by attacks, more states require pledge

A California appeals court in June barred the practice of reciting the pledge in school because of the phrase 'under God.'
By GEORGE STRAWLEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARRISBURG -- Spurred by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a court ruling that declared the "under God" portion of the pledge of allegiance unconstitutional, states increasingly are requiring that the pledge be said in schools.
Twenty-eight states require the pledge to be recited during the school day, according to the Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit national association of state education officials. Another seven encourage schools to conduct the pledge.
And others are getting on board rather than leaving it up to local school districts to decide. The Pennsylvania Senate last week unanimously passed a measure that would require pupils in private and public schools to recite the pledge or sing the national anthem. The bill, which already passed the House once, goes back to the House because it was amended by the Senate.
As of September, 16 states had legislation pending or passed during the 2001-02 session that required or encouraged the recitation of the pledge in schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"Since Sept. 11 especially, it's been an issue that legislators really rallied behind and it seems that it's something that most of them can agree on," said Greta Durr, an education-policy analyst with the NCSL.
Perhaps it is a little too easy for lawmakers to agree on the idea, said the legislative director for the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Unfortunately, too many people allow them to wave the flag and forget that they haven't done anything to improve the public schools with all this flag-waving," said Larry Frankel of the ACLU.
About Pa. bill
Frankel said the Pennsylvania bill has two problems. One is that pupils may be intimidated by the requirement that parents be notified if pupils exercise their First Amendment rights not to participate in the pledge.
The other concerns a provision allowing private and religious schools to opt out because of religious reasons but not for nonreligious reasons, he said.
"That seems to favor religious schools over nonreligious schools," Frankel said.
A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette in 1943, guaranteed pupils the right to not participate in the pledge. Later court cases specifically guaranteed pupils the right to sit during the pledge.
A Mahoning County school board this week proposed a policy that would allow pupils to sit during the daily recitation of the pledge. Members of the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center Board of Education will consider the measure again at their December meeting.
Students interviewed outside Harrisburg High School this week said they never gave any thought to not saying the pledge, which is recited at their school.
"We should say our pledge of allegiance," said Tanjalyn Ravenel, a ninth-grader at the school. "It's pledging to our country, the people that fight for us and all."
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California on June 26 barred the practice of reciting the pledge in school because of the phrase under God inserted by Congress in 1954. The court blocked its own decision from being enforced to allow for appeals.
Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri all enacted laws either requiring or encouraging the pledge of allegiance since the appellate court ruling.
Introduced bill
The Pennsylvania bill's sponsor, Rep. Allan Egolf, R-Perry, said he introduced the measure after talking to veterans who informed him that many schools no longer routinely recite the pledge.
"I checked some local schools and found that was the case," Egolf said. "I decided to do something about it."
Egolf said chances were good that the bill would beat out a quickly approaching end-of-session deadline at the end of the month and pass.
Although the bill was in the hopper long before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Egolf said the measure generated more interest afterward.
"It certainly helped. It did get more of a push," Egolf said. "I got a lot more calls about the bill after it happened."