Austin, USA - Surrounded by several parents and children, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday endorsed legislation that, he said, would guarantee youngsters the freedom to express their religious beliefs at school.
"We don't need to shield our children from religious expression and allow them to only be exposed to the religion of secularism in our schools," he said.
"Discussion does not lead to indoctrination. Rather, it leads to open-mindedness and personal and educational betterment."
House Bill 3678, expected to be considered by the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday, wouldn't lead to organized school prayer or otherwise expand the influence of religion in the public schools, supporters said.
Rather, they said, it would codify freedoms that the courts already allow under the Constitution and existing law but that some school districts have refused to honor.
"This is codifying the legal battles that have already occurred," said Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, the bill's sponsor.
Kelly Shackelford, attorney for the Liberty Legal Institute of Plano, which represents students and parents in religious freedom cases, said the bill would require school districts to allow students to express their religious beliefs as they do secular opinions.
Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which monitors the political activities of religious and social conservatives, said students' religious expression already is protected by the First Amendment.
"This bill wouldn't relieve school districts from their responsibility to protect the religious freedom of all students, regardless of their faith," Miller said. "What this bill mostly does is give politicians something easy to pass to keep their (conservative) base happy."
Perry said the bill was prompted by several incidents, including a case in which one school prohibited students from wishing troops serving overseas a "Merry Christmas" in letters mailed to them.
Another school, he said, reprimanded a first-grader for invoking Jesus when she was asked what she thinks of when she thinks of Easter.
Cynthia Gualy, the mother of four children in the Katy Independent School District, said students are prohibited from passing out tracts with the Ten Commandants but are allowed to exchange Pokemon cards.
Gualy is among a group of parents, represented by the Liberty Legal Institute, who sued Katy ISD, alleging that teachers and administrators at one school censored children and discriminated against them for expressing Christian viewpoints.
The district has denied suppressing freedom of speech or religious expression.
The suit is pending in federal district court in Houston, Shackelford said.