Florida public schools will require all grades (K-12) to hold 1–2 minutes of silence "to be able to pray" as per a bill (HB 529) Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law yesterday. According to CNN, the new rule will be enforced starting July 1st of this year.
"It's important to be able to provide each student the ability every day to reflect and be able to pray as they see fit," De Santis said. "The idea that you can just push God out of every institution and be successful, I'm sorry our founding fathers did not believe that."
From CNN:
According to the law, which was HB 529 in the Florida legislature, principals of each public school shall require teachers in first-period classrooms in all grades to set aside at least one minute but not more than two minutes daily for the moment of silence. Teachers may not make suggestions as to the nature of any reflection that a student may engage in during the moment of silence, the law states. A period of "silent prayer or meditation" was optional for school districts in the state prior to the new law.
The bill was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Randy Fine and passed the state House with a vote of 94-24 in March and the Senate 32-6 in April. The requirement goes into effect July 1.
"The Republican who sponsored the bill said that it wasn't about prayer in school. (Of course it was!)," Hardy tweeted Monday. "But when you question their motives, or their honesty, it's called a personal attack & deemed out of order. No. The Republicans lie, and we need to call them on it every time."
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