PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOLS Federal court rules against state law on pledge, anthem

The Pennsylvania ACLU is involved in the case.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- A federal court has barred state education officials from enforcing a state law that requires public and private school pupils to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the national anthem each morning.
Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert F. Kelly agreed with the arguments of several plaintiffs, including a private school in Harrisburg where pupils have a say in setting the rules, that the law violates pupils' right to freedom of expression under the First Amendment.
"I agree that [the law] unconstitutionally interferes with the school plaintiff's ability to express their values and forces them to espouse the commonwealth's views," Kelly wrote in issuing a permanent injunction.
The law also requires the American flag to be displayed in every classroom when school is in session.
Parental notification
Under the law, pupils can decline to recite the pledge and salute the flag on the basis of religious conviction or personal belief, but school officials must notify the parents of a pupil who chooses to do so.
The Pennsylvania chapter of American Civil Liberties Union has said it believes the parental notification requirement would discourage pupils from exercising their right not to participate.
"The pledge is something that should be voluntary. If you have to compel students to recite it, it's so contrary to what our country is all about," said Larry Frankel, the ACLU's legislative director.
The law was signed in December by then-Gov. Mark S. Schweiker. Its sponsor, Rep. C. Allan Egolf, has said he introduced the measure after talking to veterans who told him that many schools no longer routinely recite the pledge.
"We didn't think that they would come to that conclusion because we did pretty good research on previous challenges in other states, and it was upheld because they allowed students to opt out," said Egolf, R-Perry.
Lawsuit
Officials with the state Education Department, which was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, were not immediately available to comment. Kate Philips, spokeswoman for Gov. Ed Rendell, said she had not seen the ruling, but that the governor "doesn't agree philosophically" with mandating recitation of the pledge.
The lawsuit was filed in February in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia by high school sophomore Max Mishkin of suburban Philadelphia; The Circle School, a private school in Harrisburg with no set curriculum or tests; and a teacher at the school.
Jim Rietmulder, a Circle School founder and staff member, applauded the ruling. The state-licensed private school in suburban Harrisburg allows pupils to pursue their education independently and allows them to set policy and help run the school under a democratic system of government.
"For our students, it seems like a vindication of their view that patriotism comes in many forms," he said.
In June 2002, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that the phrase "under God," inserted by Congress in 1954, amounts to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the separation of church and state. The court voted in March not to reconsider the ruling.