Amendment requiring Pledge of Allegiance and prayer in schools headed to Alabama voters

The Alabama Senate on Wednesday passed a bill requiring schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and allowing students to initiate and lead school prayer. 

HB 511, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, is a constitutional amendment that would allow student-led and student-initiated prayer within public school classrooms. 

The upper chamber passed the amendment with no discussion. The amendment passed the House 94-4 on March 10 after nearly two hours of debate.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, students are allowed to pray in school provided it is not disruptive to school activities. After being amended, it was unclear how the bill would change or challenge existing law.

HB 511 is an updated version of HB 43 which was also sponsored by Ingram. As originally  filed, Ingram’s bill levied a 25% state funding loss penalty for school boards that did not participate in it. The penalty was removed by the House. 

Other amendments require the prayer to be at the beginning of the school day; make student participation in the prayer voluntary and remove language that requires the state superintendent to investigate violations of the law.

Under the legislation, students who do not want to participate are allowed to leave the classroom when the prayer is happening. Ingram said where the non-participating students go is up to local school boards.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said in an interview after the bill passed that there was no debate because he and his Democratic colleagues did not want to pick a fight. 

“Sometimes you just got to look at what are the arguments? What are the real fights?” Singleton said. “People on my side, as I went back to my colleagues and asked about that bill, took a look at it and they just decided there needed to be more prayer in school.”

The bill passed 30-0. It will be on a future ballot to be considered by voters.