Florida's proposed loyalty oath for educators would ban atheists from becoming teachers
New legislation would require teachers to say "so help me God" before they can ever step foot in a public school classroom
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A pair of Republican bills meant to force Florida teachers to pledge allegiance to the Constitution and loyalty to the country would—as written—effectively ban atheists and some religious educators from working in the state.
Senate Bill 430, sponsored by State Sen. Clay Yarborough, and House Bill 147, sponsored by State Rep. Tom Fabricio, both do the same thing. They require anyone employed as a classroom teacher to “subscribe” to the following oath:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and the Constitution and Government of the State of Florida; that I am duly qualified for employment as a classroom teacher in this state; that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of a classroom teacher in a professional, independent, objective, and nonpartisan manner; that I will uphold the highest standards of academic integrity and professional ethics; that I will foster a respectful learning environment for all students which promotes critical thinking, civic responsibility, and lifelong learning; and that I will serve as a positive role model in both conduct and character, so help me God.
(The Senate version of the bill modifies that oath a bit so that it also applies to administrators, pre-K teachers, and college professors.)
You can see the obvious problem though. Besides just being a complete waste of time—as if traitors are secretly plotting to turn children into little Communists by becoming middle school math teachers—it requires everyone to say “so help me God” at the very end.
We just saw a similar story like this weeks ago, after a South Carolina election worker sued the state for requiring him to say the same four words in his oath. In that lawsuit, the Freedom From Religion Foundation pointed out that the law is explicitly clear about this and the courts have affirmed their interpretation of it for decades: No one can be forced to take a religious oath—or lie about their beliefs—for a government job.
The effect of an oath like this would be to ban atheists and many others who don’t swear oaths—like Quakers—from becoming teachers in Florida based on their sincerely held “religious” beliefs. It’s blatantly illegal.
The irony is that the oaths written into those Florida bills allow people to “affirm” them rather than “swear” to them, which is already a concession for people who don’t want to take a religious oath. Yet they don’t have an option for those same people to remove the last four words, which makes no sense at all. That’s how sloppy these bills are.
That also means if one of them becomes law without any changes, it’s dead on arrival because it’s unconstitutional.
I reached out to both sponsors of this bill to ask if they would amend their bills to remove “So help me God.” They have not responded as of this writing.
As it stands, though, their bills aren’t really about patriotism or professional integrity; they’re a demand for ideological and religious conformity. Yarborough and Fabricio are weaponizing religion as a litmus test for employment.
This isn’t just bad law. It is an assault on one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy—that the government can’t force belief or punish non-belief. It’s why the Constitution makes clear there can be no religious test for public office.
Leave it to Florida Republicans to resurrect religious coercion.
The message is clear: If you don’t take the oath and refuse to bend a knee to a God you don’t believe in or don’t want to swear an oath to, you’re unfit to teach children. It also implies to students that their teachers must profess a certain kind of faith to be trusted.
Florida’s loyalty oath is a horrible way of elevating both faith and patriotism. If it passes, I have no doubt it’ll immediately be the subject of a lawsuit.
Article 6, Clause 3 of the US Consttution. No religious test for public office. Education is a public office. Such a law as this xtian-based loyalty oath would be unenforceable.
And the US Constitution trumps state constitutions. You lose.
I’m an associate professor of elementary science education. I teach future elementary teachers how to teach science. I’m also a Christian. There’s no way I’d ever say that oath. And I’ll advise all of my future students to NOT teach in Florida.