House education committee sends bill limiting classroom flags to House floor after 12-2 vote

The House Education Committee voted 12-2 to send House Bill 10 to the House floor, advancing legislation that would limit which flags and banners may be displayed on public school property.

Representative Ted Hill (R-District 14), sponsor of the bill, told the committee the measure "assure[s] that the American flag and the state flag are the primary flags in the public school" and said other flags and banners can be "a distraction" from unity. "Anything else we put in the classroom is a distraction," Hill said.

The bill text enumerates categories of permitted displays — including the United States flag, the Idaho state flag, military flags, school achievement banners and, as debated, "official flags of recognized foreign nations" — and restricts other political, ideological or religious flags or banners on school property. Hill said the measure targets banners and flags in classrooms or visible backgrounds and does not prohibit teachers from wearing lapel pins or other personal items.

Greg Wilson, chief of staff at the State Department of Education, told the committee the department does not have a formal recognition process for flags or banners and that recognition is generally a local…