by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)
The Senate Education Committee advanced bills Wednesday (April 14) preventing schools from transacting with abortion providers, requiring students to have a moment of silence after saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and requiring the national anthem to be sung before sporting events.
Meanwhile, it declined to endorse a bill returning school districts to local control within five years of being taken over by the state, and a bill that would treat students’ voluntary religious expression the same as secular expression.
House Bill 1592, the Arkansas Student Protection Act by Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, prohibits public schools from knowingly entering into any transaction with an individual or entity that provides abortions. It passed 5-3 on a roll call vote. The panel’s five Republicans voted yes and its three Democrats voted no.
