Flag DisplayIn accordance with New Mexico law the flag of the United States and the flag of the State of New Mexico will be displayed in each classroom. Show
Pledge of AllegianceNew Mexico law also requires that the pledge of allegiance be recited daily in each public school in the state. While no individual may be coerced into participation, all students will be afforded this opportunity. No student will be subjected to prejudicial treatment for exercising his or her right to abstain from participating in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Students abstaining from participation may not be required to stand or to leave the room during the recitation of the pledge. Students who disrupt the ceremony are subject to the usual rules of the school governing disruptive behavior. All schools are encouraged to continue to provide patriotic observances at appropriate times. Cross Ref.: APS Student Behavior Handbook Legal Ref.:
NSBA/NEPN Classification: IMDB Revised: May 1995 A Texas teacher agreed to pay a $90,000 settlement this week after he was sued by a student on First Amendment grounds for requiring a class to write out the Pledge of Allegiance. The incident occurred in 2017 when teacher Benjie Arnold asked his class to write out the Pledge of Allegiance or receive a failing grade. The student, Mari Oliver, wrote a squiggly line on the paper, and failed the assignment as a result. Oliver, who is Black, refused to write out the pledge over religious and social justice reasons relating to the treatment of Black Americans in the United States. Forty-seven states in the U.S. require the Pledge of Allegiance be recited in public schools, with varying exemptions for students or staff who wish to opt out. The 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, West Virginia V. Barnette, determined that no school or government can compel someone to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag. But states can still require it while offering exemptions. And states have varying levels of exemptions — for example, Florida and Texas allow for a student to be exempted from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance only if a parent or guardian consents. Here is a full breakdown of states’ laws on the Pledge of Allegiance States with no policy for the pledgeNebraska Wyoming Vermont Hawaii States that require the pledge be recited, with no clear exemptionsGeorgia Kansas Illinois New Mexico Nevada Massachusetts “Failure for a period of two consecutive weeks by a teacher to salute the flag and recite said pledge as aforesaid, or to cause the pupils under his charge so to do, shall be punished for every such period by a fine of not more than five dollars,” the law states. California Delaware States requiring the Pledge be recited with stricter exemptionsTexas Florida Pennsylvania Utah Washington New Jersey Virginia Oregon Tennessee States with new laws establishing the Pledge be recited in schoolsMontana North Dakota Arkansas Alabama Iowa States with exemptions, but varying interpretationsKentucky Alaska Oklahoma States with clear exemptionsSouth Dakota North Carolina Mississippi Connecticut Michigan New York Ohio Minnesota New Hampshire West Virginia South Carolina Colorado Idaho Wisconsin Maryland Maine Missouri Indiana Louisiana Rhode Island |