On Friday, Florida Governor (and Senate candidate) Charlie Crist signed into law HB 31. Initially, this bill attempted to assert broad protections for public school teachers and administrators to participate in religious activities with students, citing First Amendment freedoms. By the time the bill got to Crist's desk, however, the language was pared down to simply this:
District school boards, administrative personnel, and instructional personnel are prohibited from taking affirmative action, including, but not limited to, the entry into any agreement, that infringes or waives the rights or freedoms afforded to instructional personnel, school staff, or students by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, in the absence of the express written consent of any individual whose constitutional rights would be impacted by such infringement or waiver.
Liberty Counsel trumpets the law as undoing the controversial Santa Rosa County agreement with the ACLU – out of respect for the religious freedom rights of students – not to allow school officials and representatives lead prayer or participate in students' religious activity during school events. They plan to file a motion overturning that agreement on the basis of this new law.
