Pa. Senate advances bill to drop school religious garb ban

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — 20 years after a trainer’s aide was suspended for carrying a cross necklace at college, Pennsylvania lawmakers want to take away a provision in state regulation that bars educators from carrying spiritual garb whereas within the classroom.

The Senate permitted the laws by a 49-0 vote on Wednesday. The measure now goes to the Home.

The invoice would uphold a 2003 Pennsylvania federal court docket determination wherein an Indiana County trainer was reinstated and offered backpay after she had been suspended for refusing to take away her cross necklace.

Below the present language within the public college code in state regulation, an educator carrying spiritual garb should be suspended for one yr and can be fired after a number of offenses. Directors who don’t implement the regulation may very well be fined and will lose their job.

The cosponsors — Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, and Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks — mentioned Pennsylvania is the final state to strike such language, and that it applies to expression of all faiths.

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