The Impending RVAA Lawsuit Tidal Wave
Have you heard of the Religious Viewpoint Antidiscrimination Act? If you have kids in Texas public schools, you probably will shortly.
Gov. Perry Signs Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act
AUSTIN - Governor Rick Perry today signed into law House Bill 3678, the Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act. HB 3678 clarifies a student’s right to religious expression in school and creates a model policy for district adoption.
"Education is about open-mindedness and learning from one another’s thoughts and philosophies," said Perry. "Therefore we cannot - and should not - shield or discourage our children from expressing religious views in school. Stifling discussion in order to appease a secular-only environment will prevent students from growing both academically and personally."
Though the United States Supreme Court holds religious discussion in schools permissible, some Texas schools have been misapplying the law and restricting student’s legal expression. This may be due to outdated school policy or an unintended consequence of efforts to promote a neutral learning environment.
HB 3678 requires school districts to adopt and implement a policy establishing a limited public forum for student speakers at school events. The bill provides a model policy that districts may directly adopt or use for reference.
Policies must contain language which:
- Protects a student from being punished due to expressing a religious viewpoint verbally or in a class assignment
- Creates guidelines for student speakers at graduation ceremonies and other school-wide events
- Allows students to organize religious groups and activities
HB 3678 takes effect September 1, 2007.
I work at TASB and this is becoming a big topic over here, partially because our legal folks are preparing guidelines our member school districts can use and partially because what the state does at the intersection of public education and religion tends to piss lots of people off no matter what happens.
This wouldn't be a problem if the state didn't impose a uniform policy upon the vast majority of K-12 education institutions. But we all know how that works these days.
What I hope happens is a sincere, polite atheist is given the chance to "speak publicly" during a "school event" (pretty much the requirements for this "limited public forum" to be enacted) and clearly states his or her beliefs on religion in the course of his or her larger comments. I hope foaming-at-the-mouth theists decry the travesty and attempt to punish/shut up him or her. And I hope they are presented with a law - a law they probably assumed would only be used in their favor - that instead helps promote something antithetical to their beliefs.
Of course, this is the bitter atheist in me speaking after becoming aware of the ridiculous degree of mistrust, condescension, and all the other degrading misbehaviors that the more devout far too often tend to exhibit.
In all honesty, this is a superfluous statute that won't do a damn thing to solve the problem created by public education's very existence. A document created by our legal department says it well:
Even before the RVAA school districts had an option to adopt local policy allowing limited public forums for student speakers. Most districts did not pursue this option, however. In fact, many school districts had been advised that establishing limited public forums for student speakers would expose districts to increase risks. These risks include:
Risk of litigation: Introducing controversial speech into the public school setting raises the possibility of legal challenges from all sides: minority-view families who feel student speeches are too one-sided; majority-view families offended by hearing a minority view; citizens who object to the law itself; and citizens who claim the district has not gone far enough in implementing the law.
Despite these risks, state law now mandates that districts adopt local policies that establish limited public forums whenever a student is "to publicly speak."
The Christians in Lubbock are not going to sit back and listen without complaint when one of the school's five Vietnamese students talks about the glory of Buddha. The Jews near the Mexican border aren't going to go quietly into the night after a string of kids talks about how Catholicism is the only way to salvation. And no one in the 91% (probably higher in Texas) wants to hear from agnostics, vague deists, or proud atheists.
Public education screws up a lot of things and this is perhaps the most obvious example. It attempts, more or less, to become a substitute for real parenting. It should come as no surprise that parents will object to school policy and teaching when those policies and educational standards conflict with their own values.
But GAWD FORBID you suggest doing away with government education altogether. That's just nutz! Instead let's continue to plod along and continue to fail at finding the nonexistent middle ground that will magically fix everything. Just. One. More. Law.
Right?