Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a fourth edition of the “Indiana Parent’s Bill of Rights” on Facebook Tuesday, which outlines protections for religious liberty in public schools.
Rokita outlined the parental bill of rights which aims to help parents understand how and when their children can freely exercise their religion in Indiana schools during the online announcement. The fourth edition adds potential legal answers to parental questions about religious liberty to the document which also outlines other parent rights such as those pertaining to school curriculums and parental medical rights, and comes after the third edition from June 2022 which discussed school choice, according to the attorney general’s office. (RELATED: House GOP Proposes Parents’ Rights Legislation To Allow More Say In Curriculum)
An empty classroom at the Utopia Independent School on May 26, 2022. (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)
Students can advertise or promote religious events, read or distribute religious material, and wear religious clothing, symbols, or jewelry at school, according to the new edition of the Indiana parental bill of rights.
“Many think our elementary and secondary schools are ‘religion-free’ zones, but religious
freedom does not end at the school doors. Both state and federal laws protect religious freedom in public schools,” the document reads.
The attorney general spoke for a few minutes during the Facebook live event discussing why he thought it was necessary for a fourth addition of the parental bill of rights, saying he thought parents needed to know the ways their children are legally allowed to exercise their freedom of religion at school. The attorney general then opened the floor to questions from parents via email.
“Isn’t there supposed to be a separation of the church and state,” one parent asked Rokita. “It is a myth,” Rokita responded.
“What our First Amendment guarantees us is that we are free from the government establishing a particular religion. It doesn’t mean that student- led prayer in schools is prohibited; in fact, it’s particularly allowed. What is prohibited in schools is, public schools, is teacher or school official, as arms of the government, government- led practice of a particular religion,” Rokita said.
Parental rights have been a topic of debate around the nation recently, with multiple states passing legislation regarding parental rights. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Parental Rights in Education” bill into law in March 2022, and Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill in April 2022 that requires schools to notify parents of sexually explicit content in classrooms.
House Republicans proposed a federal parental bill of rights under Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California in March. “So many times across this nation, we found that parents were attacked, called terrorists, and they simply wanted to go to school boards to be heard about what’s going on,” McCarthy said, introducing the bill.
Rokita did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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