The Nebraska Legislature has PASSED LB62 through final reading with overwhelming support, 39-5. The purpose of this bill is to restore the religious freedom rights of teachers.

Once signed by Governor Ricketts, it will repeal statutes originally supported by the KKK that prohibit teachers from wearing any type of religious garb.

Religious Freedom Rights of Teachers

In January, Nate Grasz, Policy Director of NFA testified before the Education Committee in support of this bill.

Sister Madeleine’s Story

This bill has been introduced because this out-dated statute directly impacted a Catholic nun. Sister Madeleine was denied a teaching position in the Norfolk public school system because she wears a habit. She moved out of state due to the law and now teaches in Iowa.

Similarly, a Mennonite student preparing to graduate from Peru State College was told by her university academic advisor that she would not be allowed to teach in Nebraska because of the current law. Further, in Pennsylvania, the only other state where this law remains in effect, a Christian educator already employed by the public school system was barred from teaching for simply wearing a cross necklace.

This bill is needed to restore the First Amendment, religious freedom rights of teachers in Nebraska. It will prevent the state from discriminating against people of faith. Good Nebraskans, Christian, Catholic, Jewish or otherwise, should not have their jobs nor their livelihood threatened because of peacefully expressed beliefs.

Religious Freedom is Fundamental

The right to live and work according to one’s beliefs is a critical component to any free society. Whether one is religious or not, religious freedom protects every citizen by assuring them that the government is not the gatekeeper of their conscience.

Good Nebraskans should not have their jobs nor their livelihood jeopardized because of peacefully expressed religious beliefs. Protecting this basic right is important, and Americans recognize it as such.

In fact, a new Marist College poll showed that 89% of Americans believe protecting religious freedom is an important undertaking. Religious freedom guarantees that no one, regardless of their beliefs, is coerced or bullied by the government, and this critical freedom gives everyone the right to live by the dictates of their own conscience.

Teachers Have First Amendment Rights

Nebraska was not alone in adopting the type of statutes LB62 would repeal, which were initially enacted to prevent Catholic nuns from wearing the habit in classrooms, but we are one of last states to have never repealed them.

At one point, 36 states had such a law. Today, however, they remain in only Pennsylvania and Nebraska. These statutes are a violation of Nebraskans’ First Amendment freedoms and should be repealed.

Teachers do not forfeit their constitutionally protected freedoms when they arrive for work, and no one should have to abandon their faith when they walk out their front-door because of their profession.

First Lady Michelle Obama expressed a similar sentiment when she spoke to an African Methodist Episcopal church in 2012. She said:

“Our faith journey isn’t just about showing up on Sunday for a good sermon and good music and a good meal. It’s about what we do Monday through Saturday as well, especially in those quiet moments, when the spotlight’s not on us, and we’re making those daily choices about how to live our lives.”

Religious Freedom Promotes Diversity

What makes America unique is that we have the freedom to live and work according to our beliefs. Not just on recognized Holy days or inside a house of worship, but every day, and this freedom is for everyone.

Oregon successfully repealed its anti-religious garb statute in 2010, led by a coalition of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Seventh-day Adventists.

Upon settling in Nebraska, after suffering severe persecution in the Middle East, Kawaal Hasan, a leader in our local Yazidi community wrote:

“As a Yezidi leader I help my community by getting our voices out to the people who don’t have much knowledge about the Yezidi religion and the Yezidi people…We appreciate the principle of religious freedom that is embedded in the constitution of the United States and we relish the ability to freely practice our religion after many years of persecution.”

Religious freedom is a fundamental right that all are entitled to exercise, and in a society of great diversity and tolerance, should not be abandoned at the schoolhouse gate.