Will morning announcements over the loudspeakers at Texas public schools include a student’s prayer next school year? Will some deity be invoked by a student at the start of every football game? Or during a student’s speech at graduation?<\/p>\n
Maybe.<\/p>\n
A bill passed last week by the Texas Legislature and now on Gov. Rick Perry’s desk would define all of those events \u201d\u201c and other public-school assemblies at which a student speaks \u201d\u201c as venues explicitly open to the expression of a student’s religious viewpoints.<\/p>\n
Supporters say the bill protects the rights of all students who choose to talk about their faith. Opponents say it may unfairly privilege the religion held by the majority of students or permit hate speech in the name of religion.<\/p>\n
Supporters and opponents of the bill assume that Mr. Perry will sign it into law. Representatives for several North Texas school districts said that this would be one of many new laws that apply to public schools and that they haven’t figured out how to implement it.<\/p>\n
If the bill becomes law, local school districts would have until Sept. 1 to approve a policy that meets the guidelines.<\/p>\n
Supporters say the bill merely codifies case law from several Supreme Court rulings.<\/p>\n
“This bill protects every religious viewpoint,” said Kelly Coghlan, a Houston lawyer who crafted the bill and whose professional Web site is www.christianattorney .com. “I was just trying to take my cues from the Supreme Court justices.”<\/p>\n