Pledges and silence added to Texas school rules

Here.

Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas, argued that the legislation reduces local control and offered a failed floor amendment that would leave the decision up to each school district.

"It's not an argument about whether moment of silence is a good thing, it's not an argument about whether the Pledge of Allegiance is a good thing. I think it's a great thing," Hupp argued. "But I campaigned on local control and this is just one more thing we're jamming onto our schools."

So, on top of everything else, as a teacher, I am now required to lead my class in a god-oriented pledge (which I really don't mind doing as a cultural tradition, but I hate to be compelled to do so in order to show my loyalty), and a moment of silence (meaning "prayer" in the Bible-thumping community where I work). This is bound to make me at least as uncomfortable as I feel during the Christian prayer that always opens district wide faculty meetings. I fear that loyalty oaths may loom on the horizon:

All teachers were forced to take the oath or lose their jobs. Many were accused of having unpopular political opinions and found themselves unemployed and blacklisted. Hundreds of the best and most courageous teachers were lost to the schools, and, of course, to the students. But many fought back. For example, a number of professors at the University of Washington brought suit against the loyalty oath, and after a long court battle, won their case, thus making an important contribution to civil liberties in this country.

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