Senate advances National Anthem requirement for public schools
The Alabama Senate on Thursday approved a bill seeking voter approval of a constitutional amendment that would require public schools to broadcast or perform the first stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at least once per week during school hours.
Senate Bill 13, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, passed along party lines, 25-6.
Allen spoke on the Senate floor about the song’s history and read essays written by students highlighting its importance. Floor debate was limited due to a cloture petition, but at a committee hearing earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers raised concerns.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said the anthem’s third stanza glorifies slavery, calling the requirement harmful and demeaning to African-American students. Smitherman thanked Allen after the bill’s passage for limiting the requirement to the first stanza.
A fiscal note attached to the bill estimates an additional $100,000 in costs to the Governor’s Office, to be paid from the General Fund.
This is the sixth time Allen has introduced similar legislation and the first time a version has reached a full Senate vote.
The bill now moves to the House.
House passes bill offering chaplain support for teachers
The Alabama House on Thursday approved a bill to allow chaplains to volunteer as a resource for teachers, passing it 91-4.
House Bill 179, sponsored by Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, would permit chaplains to assist teachers by request. Volunteers would be required to pass background checks and show credentials from a chaplaincy program.
Gidley, a pastor, said teachers are under pressure and need support.
“What we’re trying to do is offer to our teachers — teachers only, not students — the opportunity to have a resource that they can go to to get counseling to get help if they’re struggling with something and they don’t have a person they can talk to that will be confidential and non-partial,” Gidley said.
He added that firemen, policemen, and military members have access to chaplains.
“So many of our teachers are under great stress in their job and other things too and we want to do all we can to give them every resource possible to help preserve them and conserve them,” he said.
School chaplains are currently allowed in Florida, Texas and Louisiana in varying roles. Similar legislation has been filed in nearly 20 states this year.
If approved, the law would take effect July 1, allowing chaplains on campuses by the 2025-26 school year. The bill now moves to the Senate.