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THE last state in America has repealed its religious clothing ban, which has existed for over a century.
Pennsylvania has officially eliminated its ban on religious clothing in public schools, which has been a part of its legislature for 128years.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s news release stated that he signed the Senate Bill 84, which had passed last October,
With this repeal, teachers have the right to wear any religious attire including crosses, hijabs, Stars of David, and more.
The bill was sponsored by Republican state Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill and Democrat Senator Judy Scwank.
Phillips-Hill acknowledges that the public school code dates back to measures that have been “in place for over a century,” in an email to the Washington Times.
“The legislation has been around for more than a decade to remove this provision from our Education Code,” Phillips-Hill said.
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“I’ve sponsored it since being sworn into the Senate in 2019. I am hopeful that with this new law, we will see teachers be able to worry about teaching and meeting the needs of their students rather than complain because he or she wore a necklace with a cross on it or the Star of David.”
In 2003, the centuries-old legislation cost Brenda Nichol’s job as a teacher’s aide.
The educator was suspended for a year without pay for refusing to hide the cross necklace she wore to work.
She filed a federal lawsuit in court, where the judge ruled in her favor, according to the Republican senator.
“The original law was pursued by the Ku Klux Klan, which fought to put in place this prohibition on teachers who were practicing Catholics from displaying their religion in the classroom. Many other states put in place similar prohibitions on teachers using the Pennsylvania law as a model,” the statement said.
Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy at the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, was one of the many supporters of the ban’s repeal and feels like it’s a step in a positive direction.
“It’s certainly the right move in terms of opening up all areas of profession to people of all different faiths to enable them to practice their faith in the workplace as they wish,” Mr. Diament told the publication.
“Removing the ban means public education in Pennsylvania will not be off limits to people of faith for whom religious attire is important.”