A law backed by the Ku Klux Klan nearly a century ago to keep Catholics out of public schools is still on the books in Oregon, one of the last states in the nation to prohibit teachers from wearing religious clothing in classrooms.
Both Pennsylvania and Nebraska have similar laws.
Oregon's law, originally aimed at priest collars and nun habits, survived a legal challenge in the 1980s by a Sikh convert who wanted to wear her turban in the classroom and was recently upheld by the state's Legislature.
A Muslim teacher in Pennsylvania lost a similar challenge in 1991 for the right to wear a headscarf at school.
That such a law still exists was a surprise for many Oregonians who learned about it when Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act in July, allowing workers to wear religious clothing on the job.
But the did law did not change the ban for teachers enacted in the 1920s,.
The laws' existence also surprised Mona Elgindy, a law student at Loyola University in Chicago who wrote a paper on the issue. She is a Muslim and a former teacher.
"I kept doing research and research, and thought I must be finding something that's overruling this, or repealing the law, and there was nothing," Elgindy said.
The recent legal history has been created by teachers trying to keep their jobs after administrators confronted them.
Court rulings in both Oregon and federal court in Pennsylvania rejected the claims by teachers and pointed out conflicts with the First Amendment: Teachers have a constitutional right to freedom of religion, but school districts must avoid supporting any religion.
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.
3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in 1999 that Muslim police officers in Newark, N.J., must be allowed to wear beards.
Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt wanted to include teachers in the new workplace law. But it was opposed by the ACLU during a legislative session dominated by the recession and one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.
Dave Fidanque, ACLU executive director for Oregon, said the law helps ensure religious neutrality in public schools.
Pennsylvania voters passed a law in 1895 aimed at preventing nuns from wearing religious clothing in schools.
Rajdeep Singh Jolly, legal director for the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, both say the laws are not only unconstitutional, but discriminatory because their enforcement now tends to fall on minorities.
The best way to deal with any problem involving religion in classrooms is to discipline teachers if they try to proselytize students or advocate favoring a particular religion, not for the way they dress.
But when it comes to a Sikh turban, Hijab, Mennonite style covering, cape dresses or other clothing, Why should teachers have to surrender something that is such an integral part of their life in order to pursue a career? What are your thoughts on the issue?
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Comments (7)
My original comment on this issue:
You know, in some parts of the world, women are actually killed for not wearing
these things. It's funny how that's not a big deal, really, compared to
"teachers not being allowed to wear them" in the United States... Yes,
we're a free-er country, generally speaking, but I don't see how that
excuses any other country's behavior towards women who don't
want to be forced into oppressive garments. The answer I usually get,
though, is that it's "their culture." Well, unfortunately, the American
culture is to go without these types of clothing.
Students
aren't allowed to wear tank tops, head coverings, shorts of certain
lengths, and in some places, even skirts in general. I'm not saying
that's right; in fact, having a dress code at all was one of the things
that pissed me off the most about high school. However, the point of a
dress code is so students "aren't distracted" (supposedly - I think
that's utter bs, but whatever). I think teachers should follow the same
rules. If those rules change, I think it's fine for teachers to wear a
clown costume to school if they want - as long as students can do the
same. And I don't see anyone advocating the students' rights to wear
whatever they desire.
And sometimes I can understand that.
Students can be nuts. If this were just a simple matter of religious
tolerance, it would be allowed - along with Wiccans being allowed to
wear spiky jewelry and extremely baggy pants. I'm sure someone would
claim they're of a religion that makes them go to school wearing the
skimpiest possible clothing they can find - on the other end of the
extreme.
And I'm sure, too, that students who want to do a
Columbine will be happy to claim themselves as being Islamic, wear all
of these baggy types of clothing (hijab, turban, capes, whatever) to
hide guns/knives/other weapons in, and come to school to massacre a
number of people.
what do you think of the woman in Sudan arrested for wearing pants?
I just lost over half my braincells reading this shit. Get over it.
I think it's sad that laws like this are in place. They shouldn't need to be, because no matter what a person's religion, they aren't permitted to proselytize in class. They still should be permitted to wear religious garb. What's next? We disallow teachers from wearing crosses or other religious jewelry? Where do we draw the line?
As a third grader I thought my teacher was smarter, prettier and kinder than anyone on earth. If she had worn any type of costume, I would have been impressed by it whether she proselytized or not.
If the law against religious attire in public schools lays more heavily on minorities, (and I haven't seen verifiable statistics to prove that) it might be partly due to the individual's reluctance to assimilate into our melting pot. In American culture, religious attire is reserved for religious settings with the exception of certain clergy, who wear it as a professional designation.
Is this a travel blog?
@SerenaDante@xanga - i don't understand what's wrong with letting them wear what they want. In our school students wore head coverings etc if it was for religious reasons and it never got in the way of anything. I'm not sure what your point is? Are you saying that since it's a law they shouldn't have to wear it? It's not distracting it's the persons choice.
@stuipdthing@xanga - It seems no one but you has had a problem understanding what I said. I agree that we should have people wearing what they want - as long as this applies to students too. And students are dangerous, so if this also applies to students, then it could cause problems. Re-read, please, and try for some comprehension.