Iowa Senator proposes law requiring teachers to recite Pledge of Allegiance

Iowa State Sen. Adrian Dickey (R-Packwood) has authored legislation to require teachers to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day in their classrooms.

The bill is Senate File 2043, and it states that teachers in Iowa schools must stand and recite the pledge or face disciplinary action. The bill also prohibits K-12 teachers from speaking about the Pledge of Allegiance in a manner perceived as an “unpatriotic commentary on the United States,” or “an attempt to politically influence students.”

In his weekly newsletter, Dickey explained that his bill is meant to address some issues that arose last year. During the 2021 Legislative session, the Legislature passed a bill that required the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in every classroom, every day, and to display the American flag in class.

“After that law was implemented, we have learned of a few teachers (fortunately none that I am aware of in this district) who have misused this requirement as an opportunity to push personal political agendas on their young students,” Dickey wrote. “To me, that is not acceptable.”

Dickey said he believes reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is an opportunity to “unify us as Americans,” and to remind residents of the rights they have, the freedoms they enjoy, and “just how darn fortunate we are to be living in this great country thanks to the sacrifices of so many before us.”

Dickey’s bill includes a set of disciplinary actions against teachers who violate it. For the first violation, the bill requires the school to provide the teacher written notice and to notify the parents or guardians of the students at the school. A notice is also sent to the state department of education and board of educational examiners. On the second violation, the teacher is suspended without pay for one week, and on the third violation, the teacher is terminated.

Teachers would be required to stand during the pledge, unless they present a documented disability preventing them from doing so. The bill covers only the behavior of teachers, and not students, regarding the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The U.S. Supreme Court has heard challenges to laws that require reciting the pledge or saluting the flag, but they have typically dealt with students, not teachers. For instance, the Supreme Court ruled in its 1943 case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, that schools cannot force students to salute the flag, reversing a Supreme Court decision from three years earlier that said schools could require students to salute the flag and recite the pledge.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com