COLUMBUS, Ohio
A proposed law that strips Ohio school districts of the authority to decide whether students should say the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, a civil liberties group said Friday.
State Sen. Gary Cates, a Republican from West Chester, made the proposal by inserting an amendment to the state's budget bill.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is calling on other lawmakers to remove the provision.
Under the amendment, teachers would decide if students in their classrooms will say the pledge. The amendment still would allow individual students to choose not to recite the pledge, but the
proposal would prohibit anyone from altering it, such as adding or removing words.
Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU in Ohio, said the amendment violates free speech rights. School boards should retain the authority to decide if the pledge is appropriate, she said.
"This is a transparent attempt to force all school districts into mandating the pledge to be recited in all classrooms," Link said.
"I'm just trying to make sure that the rights of students are not infringed upon," he said.
A message seeking comment from Cates was not immediately returned.
A school board in Oberlin, about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland, voted last month to continue its policy of not having students say the pledge during the school day.
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