Oregon public school teachers forbidden to wear religious clothingFeb 4, 2010 Today, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a coalition of interfaith, civil rights, and bar association organizations are advocating for the religious liberty of public school teachers in Oregon. In a letter to state legislative leaders, the coalition urged the immediate repeal of an Oregon law that forbids Oregon teachers from wearing religious dress in public schools. Under current Oregon law, teachers who are religious Jews may not wear yarmulkes, religious Sikhs may not wear turbans, and religious Muslim women may not wear a headscarf.
The law they refer to is a Ku Klux Klan supported, anti-Catholic measure from the 1920’s, passed at a time of overt hostility toward racial and religious minorities. Other laws enacted at the same time discriminated against Japanese consumers and Latino business owners; those have since been repealed.
“It is amazing that Oregon, of all places, would want to keep religious minorities from getting a fair shot at public school jobs,” said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “Why should anyone care if Mr. Singh wears a turban while teaching physics class?”
Oregon is currently one of only three states in the nation that forbids public school teachers from wearing religious dress in the classroom. In the weeks to come, the Oregon legislature will entertain a bill to repeal the outdated and discriminatory law.
Supporters of the ban on religious clothing, led by the Oregon ACLU, have argued that allowing public school teachers to wear religious clothing will lead to indoctrination of children.
“You wouldn’t think that the ACLU would be channeling the Klan,” said Rassbach. “But sadly the ACLU is doing everything it can to keep religious Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, and Catholics from being public school teachers.”
Based in Washington, D.C., The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. The Becket Fund has a 15-year history of defending religious liberty for people of all faiths. Its clients have included Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians.
For more information or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys please contact Montserrat Alvarado, Assistant Director of Communications, at malvarado@becketfund.org or call 202.590.6966. Resources & Documents
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