You might not know this, but 47 states currently have laws requiring students to recite the pledge of allegiance, including California (who sort of gets around this by leaving oversight to each school district.) While the pledge is something we all learn in school, I don’t think many of us were aware it’s a legal requirement to say it. However, most states do have exemptions that are sometimes challenged as The Hill reported on below:
“A Texas teacher agreed to pay a $90,000 settlement this week after he was sued by a student on First Amendment grounds for requiring a class to write out the Pledge of Allegiance.
The incident occurred in 2017 when teacher Benjie Arnold asked his class to write out the Pledge of Allegiance or receive a failing grade. The student, Mari Oliver, wrote a squiggly line on the paper, and failed the assignment as a result.
Oliver, who is Black, refused to write out the pledge over religious and social justice reasons relating to the treatment of Black Americans in the United States. Forty-seven states in the U.S. require the Pledge of Allegiance be recited in public schools, with varying exemptions for students or staff who wish to opt out. But states can still require it while offering exemptions. And states have varying levels of exemptions — for example, Florida and Texas allow for a student to be exempted from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance only if a parent or guardian consents.”
So what do you think, should students be required to say the pledge of allegiance in school? Let us know in the comments below!