Senate Bill No. 42
(By Senators Whitlow, Anderson, Miller, Claypole,
Ross and Helmick)
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[Introduced January 17, 1994; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article five, chapter eighteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-one, relating to county boards of education; providing
for reading and posting of certain historical writings; and
prohibiting content-based censorship of posted documents
based on religious references.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-one, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-41. Content based censorship of American history
prohibited.
County boards of education may allow any teacher or
administrator in a public school to read or to post in a public
school building, classroom or at a public school event anyexcerpts or portions of: The national motto; the national
anthem; the pledge of allegiance; the preamble to the
constitution of this state; the Declaration of Independence; the
Mayflower Compact; the writings, speeches, documents and
proclamations of the founding fathers and presidents of the
United States; United States Supreme Court decisions; and acts of
the United States Congress, including the published text of the
congressional record. There shall be no content-based censorship
of American history or heritage in the public schools of this
state based on religious references in these writings, documents
and records.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the posting of
historical writings and documents and to prohibit content-based
censorship of the posting of these historical documents based on
religious references.
§18-5-41 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.