DES MOINES, Iowa – An Iowa House subcommittee on Wednesday passed a bill, HSB 587, requiring that the national anthem be sung each school day in the state’s public schools.
The bill prescribes that schools sing one verse of the National Anthem each school day and the entire song on patriotic occasions.
State Representatives Henry Stone, R-Forest City, and Phil Thompson, R-Boone, recommended passage of the bill. State Rep. Sue Cahill, D-Marshalltown, opposed the bill.
The legislation proposed by State Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, the Iowa House Education Committee Chair, also requires public schools to include instruction about the national anthem in their social studies curriculum.
Public schools, which includes charter schools and innovation zones, would be required to include in their curriculum instruction “related to the words and music of the national anthem, the meaning and history of the national anthem, the object and principles of the government of the United States, the sacrifices made by the founders of the United States, the important contributions made by all who have served in the armed forces of the United States since the founding, and how to love, honor, and respect the national anthem.”
The bill prohibits compelling teachers or students to sign the national anthem or providing a negative evaluation or assesment based on a lack of participation or objecting over the national anthem being sung.
Read the bill below:
HSB587
