Do students in public schools have to say the pledge of allegiance?
No, absolutely not. It is unarguably clear that students do not have to say the pledge or stand when others do. That’s true in all 50 states, and has been since 1943. Students were given the right to follow their conscience in a U.S. Supreme Court case called West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette.
So if your conscience tells you not to recite the pledge don’t do it. No one can legally stop you unless they want to break the First and 14th Amendments.
So why are Texas schools (and others around the country) demanding students recite the pledge?
- Yes it is true that a Texas student was physically punished with paddling when she embraced her right to refrain.
- Yes it is true that a west Texas school demanded all students say the pledge because “It’s the law!”
- Yes it is true that a Houston area teen just got expelled for her brave act of following her conscience.
Law professor Emily Berman makes this incredibly easy for us: “This is not legal,” Berman said. “There are a lot of constitutional questions that raise difficult or ambiguous responses, but this is very clearly not legal.”
But here is what you need to know: Texas students need parental permission.
TEXAS LAW states “On written request from a student’s parent or guardian, a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall excuse the student from reciting a pledge of allegiance.” (Read Texas Education Code 25.082 for yourself here)
So here’s what to do. If you are a student who in good conscience does not want to say the pledge of allegiance have your parent or guardian write a short letter to your school saying so. If you are a parent who doesn’t want your student pledging allegiance to a flag write a short letter to your student’s school saying so.
Here’s a template you can work with:
To whom it may concern at _______ school,
My child cannot in good conscience stand for or recite the pledge of allegiance while at school. Please excuse her/him from needing to do so and communicate clearly with the teacher in whose class the pledge is recited. Thank you for understanding my child’s desire to exercise their First and 14th Amendment rights. If you have any questions or comments please direct them to me rather than to my student.
There are many good reasons for being a conscientious objector to the pledge of allegiance. I personally stopped reciting the pledge of allegiance the day after Iraq War 1 began, in 1991 because “The church is the spiritual, social, and political body that gives its allegiance to God alone.”* You may like me object for religious reasons, in support of protests of racism and anti-blackness, or as a statement against the White House’ war threats. No matter the reason, you have every right to follow your heart.
*Quote is from Article 23 of the 1995 Mennonite Confession of Faith.