A bill that would ban pride flags in Tennessee classrooms narrowly managed to advance on a 5-4 vote in the Senate Education Committee Wednesday afternoon following questions from members of both political parties about its potential consequences.
Senator Joey Hensley’s, R-Hohenwald, bill would only allow certain flags to be displayed in the classroom. The bill’s House counterpart sponsored by Representative Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, advanced through key House committees and faces a vote on the House floor next week.
Hensley told the Senate committee he’s sponsoring this bill because of concerns from constituents.
“There were parents in my district that objected to some flags that were posted in the schools by the teachers. They felt like they represented viewpoints they didn’t espouse at home and didn’t feel like that was appropriate for the public school system,” said Hensley.
Originally, the bill only allowed the United States of America flag and the official Tennessee state flag. After revisions, the flags that would be allowed are:
- United States of America flag.
- The official Tennessee State flag.
- A flag that contains a memorial and cannot be distributed or altered.
- POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) flag.
- A flag that represents a Native American tribe.
- A flag that represents a city, county, metropolitan government, or other political subdivisions of the State of Tennessee.
- Flags that represent a unit, branch, or other divisions of the armed forces, including ROTC.
- A flag that represents a country or a political subdivision.
- A college or university flag.
- A temporary flag displayed as part of a bona fide course curriculum.
- An official school flag or the flag of an organization authorized to use a public-school building when the organization is using the building.
Senator Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, directly questioned if the bill would allow the Confederate flag and said she wants people in Tennessee to know they are welcomed rather than refused.
“I’ve gotten so many emails and text messages, direct messages, anything you can think of about this legislation. Again, to me it’s not helping our kids read better, learn better, count better, thrive. If anything, it’s making a certain segment of the population feel uncomfortable. A flag, it’s just a flag. It’s thread and colors weaved together. It’s not something that indoctrinates someone, it is just something that represents an individual. I cannot stress enough that the more and more we continue to erode at First Amendment rights in schools, we become like countries we despise,” said Akbari.
Committee Chair Senator Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, also expressed concerns about possible unintended consequences such as the checkered flag in racing or unofficial flags. He joined two other Republicans and Senator Akbari in voting against the bill.
Before the vote, an American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU) representative and attorney Phil Cramer testified before the committee and urged them not to pass it.
Cramer told the Senate committee that taxpayers will be on the hook for potentially millions of dollars when the legislation faces legal challenges if passed. Cramer also said he believes courts will find the legislation unconstitutional.
“As the U.S. Supreme Court declared 50 years ago, and reaffirmed last term, constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression are not shed at the schoolhouse gate. Then, like now, the government cannot favor certain content or viewpoint over others,” said Cramer. “As far as I’ve seen, the record is silent as to the rational basis of this bill. It appears to be a solution in search of a problem.”
Senator Hensley disagreed with opponents who say his legislation is unconstitutional.
“This bill is just designating what flags can be flown,” said Hensley. “Children need to just come to school and learn how to read and write and do math. And let’s leave the ideological flags of either side at home and that’s what this bill is trying to do. Hopefully schools will just display our United States flag and our Tennessee flag and that should be enough.”
