Coming soon in the Central Florida Freethought Community

Jun 19 (Father's Day) at 1 PM - Anna Eskamani of Planned Parenthood

 

Anna is a friend of the CFFC and serves as the Senior Director of Public Affairs and Field Operations for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.  She will talk about the ongoing issues facing Planned Parenthood today, including serious challenges from the religious right. Come out get to know Anna and the important work Planned Parenthood does for women and families in Florida.

Find CFFC events on  Facebook  and  Meetup.

Local or regional news that matters to you!

Small Changes to Florida Law Make Big News

The law didn't change much regarding student's rights to opt out of the Pledge of Allegiance this year, but you wouldn't know it by watching the news. To be sure you are fully informed on the issue, here is a brief summary with lots of links to news coverage and an explanation for how and why the CFFC is involved in this effort.

For some background, here is a summary of the  1943 case, W. Va v. Barnette, from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Santa Rosa County - 2015

In August, American Atheists received a complaint from a resident about Pledge participation and sent a letter to the school board reminding them of the student's right to opt out of the Pledge and of the 72 year old Florida law requiring the "posting [of] a notice in a conspicuous place" to inform students of that right. The school attorney advised the board to post a notice in every classroom and they did so. Locals promptly flipped out and the media covered the ensuing chaos.

The Florida Legislature - Piety & Politics

The Santa Rosa County Legislative Delegation organized a public meeting to accomplish 3 very important tasks: 1) recite the Pledge of Allegiance, 2) allow interested parties to talk about the horrible people who do not recite the Pledge, and 3) discuss changing the law so students would be less likely to know they have the right to opt out of the Pledge.

In the 2016 legislative session, companion Florida bills ( House 1403  and  Senate 1600 ) were filed to replace the conspicuous posting requirement with a notice in the student handbook and add language ensuring non-participating students did not have to stand and place their hand on their heart. The latter stems from a  2010 Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision  in Florida called Frazier v. Winn.

The House bill passed through committee stops with unanimous support. The Senate bill never came up for a vote. However, it did make it into an omnibus education bill ( CS/CS/HB 7029) which both houses passed and Governor Rick Scott signed making the law effective this summer.

CFFC Activism - Freedom of Speech

The CFFC had first hoped the legislation would fail since it was proposed to favor school boards in their reluctance to notify students under the current law (requiring a posted notice). Students would be better informed than with the proposed law (a notice in the student handbook. 

However, there is no indication that any school in Florida was following the existing law so this change was seen as positive. There are two further benefits to the law's passage:

1. We would have opportunities to get the issue in the news twice more (now and when school starts) so more and more people would learn about a student's right to opt out of the Pledge recitation.
2. Now we can easily confirm that every school board in the state is compliant through a simple public records request for the student handbook.

So, with the help of American Atheists, we notified all 67 Florida county school boards last month of the change to the law and our intention to confirm their compliance when school begins.

At the same time, we cotacted dozens of local news outlets in the Florida cities where David Silverman, American Atheists President, was visiting to see if they wanted to interview him. While in Florida, David did 4 interviews which the CFFC helped facilitate. The main message was that Florida students did not have to recite the Ple dge before this law was changed and they still have the right to opt out. Also, we made it known that we were pleased that students would finally be notified of their rights as a result of the change in the law.

CFFC Press Release and School Board Letter

Orange County Public Schools - Exhibit A

We understand that school boards are already taking up the issue of student handbooks for the 2016-17 school year, so our letter was well-timed. One of those was Orange County Public Schools who discussed the issue on May 12.

In an amazing display of ignorance of the law and the rights of her students, Katherine Gordon, the senior member of the school board, discussed a plan she has devised to segregate students who choose not to participate in the Pledge. Listen to the ten minute rant and the response from the attorney and superintendent who seemed to direct her back towards reality.

Audio Only

Local Media - Mixed Messages

Here are all the Florida news stories we could find. Some reporters actually understood the issues while others clearly did not and did not contact us for clarification.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Don't believe everything you see/hear in the media!

Fox News - WTF?

In their usual un-fair and un-balanced way, Fox News took on the Pledge law issue with Tucker Carlson interviewing an unknown Orange County school teacher--neither of whom understood the current status of the law, the change to the law, nor the rights of students.  Here's the full video below and a link to commentary by Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist blog. 

For your safety, and the safety of those around you, please put down any beverages and possible projectiles before viewing.

In Summary

Overall, this has been a victory for students since their rights are unharmed and we were able to bring this issue back into the media as well as remind every school board on notice that we are paying attention and will seek to ensure the rights of students are preserved.

Finally, it remains unclear as to whether or not it is permissible for schools to require written permission from a parent or guardian for a student to be excused from the Pledge recitation. It is our position that there is no other place where a parent has to be involved in the written permission of the free speech rights of their children so the same should be true in this case. This specific issue will likely be in front of a court again. The Florida Department of Education acknowledges this in a memorandum sent shortly after the above-referenced 2010 Frazier v. Winn case.

We hope this clears up the issue for you and allows you to convey the actual facts of the issue if it comes up in conversation. If you still have questions, use our Contact Us page.

Stay Informed & In Touch

Compelling a student to stand or recite the pledge and salute the flag infringes upon a student's First Amendment rights. Schools cannot punish students for exercising this right.

Thanks to our recent efforts, all Florida schools are aware of the new law which will require a notice in the student handbook. We'll check back in on them in August just to be sure.

 

Watch your local public schools for this and the rest of  Florida's Dirty Dozen .