Jason Delgado
The Florida House will consider a bill this week that would pave the way for daily moments of silence in K-12 classrooms.
Sponsored by Republican Rep. Randy Fine, the bill (HB 529) would provide students a one- to two-minute window during the day’s first-period for a moment of silence. It would also prohibit teachers from influencing a student’s moment of silence and disallow other students from interfering.
Critics of the legislation fear the bill is just another measure to blur the lines between church and state.
Fine, however, argues the bill is intended to give students an opportunity to take some time ahead of the school day to reflect — regardless of religious affiliation.
“Every child can benefit from a time, whether you’re Jewish or Christian or you don’t believe in God at all, every child will benefit from this time to be centered before the beginning of the day,” Fine told the House Education and Employment Committee on Wednesday,
Notably, current law allows school boards to set aside up to two minutes each day or each week for classes to give students the opportunity for prayer or meditation.
This isn’t a lawmakers’ first try at similar legislation.
The Legislature attempted to pass a similar measure last year. That bill (HB 737) was sponsored by former Democratic Rep. Kimberly Daniels and made it to the House floor with unanimous approval from all of its committees.
This year, the bill faced early oppositiond from Democrats in its first committee but has gained some bipartisan approval since.
Rep. Chris Latvala, chair of the House Education and Employment Committee noted the shifting winds.
“I haven’t seen the same bipartisanship, so to speak, this year,” Latvala said at the meeting. “And the difference between this bill and last year’s bill is the person who sponsored it, and the party who sponsored it, and so that’s just something that I wanted to point out. But nevertheless, it’s a good bill, whether a Republican sponsors it or a Democrat sponsors it.”
