Oregon Legislator Promises Repeal Of Teacher Garb Law

July 27, 2009

Author: Anju Kaur

Source: SikhNN

http://www.sikhnn.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=682&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

The Oregon state house speaker said this week that he would ask the legislature in February to repeal a statute that was originally crafted by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, upheld by the Oregon Supreme Court against a Sikh teacher in the 1980s and expanded within a new law passed this month.

Governor Ted Kulongoski signed into law on July 16 the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act - Senate Bill 786 - that requires employers to allow workers to wear religious apparel and take holy days off, but explicitly exempts teachers from wearing religious garb.

“We all agree, and Speaker Hunt is strong on the issue that we are going to seek a repeal of the (teacher exemption) law,” said Geoff Sugerman, spokesman for Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Clackamas County.