Lawmakers OK Christmas Hanukkah Acknowledgement in Texas Schools

PC policy in public schools addressed Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Hallelujah! It appears that Texas schools and students will be allowed to celebrate Christmas this year. Currently teachers and school officials must refrain from any reference to the Christian Holiday or Hanukkah or even utter the words Merry Christmas" without fear of lawsuits from the politically correct sensitive types.   But Texas state lawmakers passed legislation recently that will free teachers and school employees to openly embrace the Christmas tradition by allowing them to say Merry Christmas" or Happy Hanukkah" and to decorate with Christmas" trees instead of holiday" trees the Huffington Post reports.

Teachers have enough on their plate to worry about (whether) the school districts going to be sued or if they can call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree" said Texas state Rep. Dwayne Bohac sponsor of the legislation.

Bohac said the inspiration for the bill came after his 6-year-old son talked about decorating his schools holiday tree with holiday ornaments" according to the news site. That incident caused Bohac to conclude that Texas public schools are too steeped in politically correct jargon. I was a little bit flabbergasted and a little bit upset that weve become so politically correct that we cant call a federal holiday by its name" the lawmaker said. The premise behind the legislation is simple: Kids love the holidays. Whether its Christmas or Hanukkah our children teachers parents and school administrators should have the freedom to acknowledge these traditions in our public schools without fear of censorship punishment persecution or litigation" according to MerryChristmasBill.com a site set up to promote the Texas legislation. The measure which actually consists of identical bills in the state House and Senate passed both chambers and now heads to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature and the governor has indicated he supports the bill. State Sen. Robert Nichols (below right center) explains why he introduced the bill in the Senate on the Christmas bill website:

I have heard from many constituents who dislike that it is becoming less culturally acceptable to openly celebrate these holidays in the ways past generations have. To me this is a matter of helping our teachers and administrators feel safe talking about these holidays at school without fear of legal action being taken against them" said Nichols. Were currently standing at a cultural crossroads in our society and this is one step forward for those defending our traditional values and beliefs" Nichols said.

Despite regular reports on Fox News and other media outlets about the War on Christmas" being perpetuated by liberal ideologues Texas union officials dont see an issue with the politically correctness run amok. I think we really have to say does this help education when we are caught up in discussions that have become pure partisan discussions? That is not the way we should be looking at education" Texas American Federation of Teachers President Linda Bridges told KTBC. Its an ironic statement considering that left-leaning union officials no doubt support the PC policy in public schools and likely had a hand in implementing the no Christmas policies. Teachers unions are notorious for promoting their special brand of liberalism in public schools across the country. The worst part? That states now need specific legislation to allow teachers and students to embrace their American faith traditions.