Georgia State Rep. Kasey Carpenter said Tuesday that a bill he sponsored to allow for more religious expression in public schools is dead.
His bill, the Coach Small Religious Protection Act, did not go to the floor for a vote by the end of last Wednesday, the legislature's "Crossover Day." Neither did an identical bill in the state senate.
State Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-DaltonThe bill would have let teachers and coaches pray alongside students, decorate their desks with spiritual symbols and participate in religious clubs on campus. Among other highlights:
- Public school employees can participate in student-led prayer and religious clubs.
- Employees can decorate their desks with religious symbols.
- In grading a student's work, a teacher may not penalize a student for simply sharing religious beliefs.
- A school can't stop a student from sharing religious beliefs during morning announcements, at sporting events, pep rallies or graduations.
- A school can't stop students from organizing prayer groups or religious clubs.
- A school can't stop students from wearing clothing advertising a religion.
But opponents said the bill was a waste of time. Some parts of the bill are already allowed. Other elements have been ruled unconstituonal by higher courts.
"Some of this is just dumb," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that advocates for the separation of church and state. "A lot of this, they're making it seem like the schools are doing more repressive things than they are. Hopefully this bill will die a natural death."
Last month, Carpenter told the Times Free Press: "Most schools in Georgia would probably prefer that people in Wisconsin (where the foundation is based) not tell us what to do. We all have our ways of interpreting things."
The main driver of the bill is the issue of teachers praying with students. The legislation is called the "Coach Small Religious Protection Act," named after John Small, a football coach at East Coweta High School. In November, after a complaint by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Coweta County Schools attorney advised Small and other staff they could not pray with students.