The Alabama House of Representatives last week passed a bill that would require the Pledge of Allegiance be recited at all K-12 public schools in the state.
House Bill 339 was sponsored by state Representative Nathanial Ledbetter, R-Rainsville.
HB339 would require that all schools recite the pledge at the beginning of the school day. Most public schools already do this, but not all.
Representative Ledbetter said that he decided to introduce this bill when his granddaughter came to Montgomery and asked her mother to teach her the pledge because she did not know it.
The bill does not require that students recite the pledge. It requires that the public employees who the state is paying to staff the schools to make the pledge part of the school day.
HB339 passed the House with strong bipartisan support on a vote of 93 to 0.
The legislation now heads to the Alabama State Senate. HB339 has been assigned to the Senate Education Policy Committee.
The Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation has released a statement announcing their opposition to the bill.
