AP's William McCall reports that only three states – Oregon, Pennsylvania and Nebraska – still have laws on the books prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious attire. A recent Oregon bill expanded religious freedom rights in the workplace but did not overturn the rule for teachers out of concern for appearing to endorse a religion to young students.
Michael Kaufman…an education law expert (at Loyola University in Chicago), said laws banning religious clothing used to be fairly common. But there has been a gradual shift away from them to protect teachers' religious freedom as long as it does not disrupt the classroom.
"It's now sort of gone full circle," Kaufman said. "The law now requires neutrality regarding religion, meaning the states or schools can neither favor nor disfavor religion."
The few remaining bans "are really suspect constitutionally now," he said.
And in what sounds like a bit of news later in the piece,
The Sikh (Legal Defense Fund) has asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether the Oregon law violates Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, and received a letter this week saying the department would give it "careful consideration."
