PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Teachers are likely to win the right to wear religious clothing such as turbans, yarmulkes, crosses and headscarves in public schools when state lawmakers convene in February, elected officials say.
Oregon’s relatively unique prohibition on teachers’ religious garb dates to a shameful anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant period in state history and is overdue to be changed, state House Speaker Dave Hunt said.
Hunt plans to introduce a bill to repeal the 1923 law, and said he is optimistic it will pass, given the broad spectrum of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs who support the change.
State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and Oregon Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo recently sent every lawmaker a letter urging them to end the ban on religious dress for teachers.
The 86-year-old law has not been tested in court since school officials in Eugene won a 1986 Oregon Supreme Court case that upheld its firing of a Sikh teacher for wearing a turban as her faith requires.
Few Oregonians were aware the state had such a ban — one of only three in the nation — until lawmakers passed a law earlier this year allowing all workers except teachers to wear religious dress at work in most instances.
The 1923 law on teacher dress was passed when Kaspar K. Kubli, an open supporter of the Ku Klux Klan, presided as speaker of the Oregon House. It was included in the Alien Property Act of 1923, which prohibited Japanese Americans from owning property in Oregon, and was designed to prevent nuns and priests from wearing their habits or vestments in classrooms.
Hunt said the old law has a modern-day impact. Some Muslim and Sikh Oregonians have been told in recent years that they can’t apply for teaching jobs or can teach only if they remove their head coverings, he said.
Hunt said he will push to “allow teachers to have the same religious free exercise rights as every other Oregonian.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which has long supported the ban on teachers’ wearing of religious clothing, said the legislature should not end it without enacting additional protections for Oregon students.
“We are urging the legislature not to rush,” said David Fidanque, executive director of the state ACLU. “Just repealing the statute could cause real problems in maintaining the religious neutrality of schools in Oregon.”
By Betsy Hammond
Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted December 1, 2009 at 9:59 pm
The rest of the country seems to get along without it and it has a horrible back story, so yes get rid of it.
posted December 1, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Good. I hope they manage to repeal the law. All workers except teachers are allowed to wear religious garb? What kind of nonsense is that? Teachers are “workers” too.
posted December 1, 2009 at 11:58 pm
It’s a funny thig as long as the law was pursecuting Christians it was pretty much unprotested but when a turban is in question the law is then addressed. Crazy
posted December 2, 2009 at 12:56 am
ckunck:
Other than a cross, which was probably overlooked, what does a christian wear that identifies them as such?
posted December 2, 2009 at 2:33 pm
The ACLU should look at it this way; if everybody is allowed to be themselves and dress their own way, that is more neutral than wearing clothes that aren’t them and being annoyed while they are trying to think about the subject they’re teaching. It’s good for children to understand that people are different than themselves, and good for children who have parents who wear turbans, etc. being themselves. Tolerance never hurts, it teaches.
posted December 2, 2009 at 11:09 pm
mcq, There are a whole wardrobe of Christian clothing from hats, backpacks, tee, to casual shirts that are frown upon in many workplaces and a bible at a Christian’s workspace can cause problems.
posted December 2, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Cknuck,
Clothing that might have a christian statement isn’t clothing required by the religion.. it is personal choice only. The hair coverings that several religions wear are a REQUIRED part of their faith for everyone. Big difference than fad apparel. Yes I love to wear my Fairy shirts.. but they don’t represent my path. Wearing my goddess and my fairy star though is equivalent to your cross and I would not want anyone telling me that I couldn’t wear it.. not that any of this would prevent you from wearing it under your clothing anyway. Little hard to put your head under your shirt… although many specialize in putting up their…..
I also can’t imagine that a bible sitting on a desk would ever be a problem unless your boss is smart enough to know your reading it instead of doing your work. I keep my reading material in my carry bag where it belongs… where it’s not a temptation to open when my focus should be elsewhere…. to everything a time and place… you should know that.
Bright Blessings
Ruairi
posted December 3, 2009 at 11:44 am
Dress codes and loyalty oaths are the last result of administrations that have no control or sense of leadership. This whole idea of restricting religious attire and accessorizing is the result of people who are not interested in actually getting to know people, they simply want to control them. This attitude does not command respect and reduces the “authorities” to cartoons and caricatures. The state of OR would make much better use of their time and resources if they set this ban aside and focused on serving rather than regulating the people who elected them.
posted December 5, 2009 at 12:23 am
rauiri your statement is unfair and trivializes Christians who wear clothing that they feel expresses their devotion
posted December 9, 2009 at 7:15 pm
cknuck, just what is Christian clothing??