SALEM - Students will have the option of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school every day - instead of just once a week - under a House Bill passed Tuesday.

The bill passed over the objections of Democrats who said the state shouldn't try to "dictate" patriotism to Oregon's school children.

But Rep. Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, the bill's main sponsor, said it will allow students the opportunity to be patriotic and salute their country during their daily routine.

"The pledge was started in our schools," Flores said. "We say it to remind ourselves of the principles our country was founded on."

Flores also said lawmakers start their day with the pledge, and students should be able to do the same.

But Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, called it a "feel-good bill" that shouldn't have passed.

"I have a different view of patriotism," Buckley said. "I feel that the Legislature, until we uphold our obligations to fund our schools adequately ... it's really not up to us to dictate what school districts should do."

The bill does not make reciting the pledge mandatory, but requires school employees to "provide students with the opportunity" to say the pledge by reciting it daily.

Students who want to join in can do so, and other students are required to "maintain respectful silence during the salute."

Currently, state law requires the same optional pledge be recited once a week, but some parents of schoolchildren testified during previous public hearings that the law wasn't being upheld in some school districts.

Buckley said the real act of patriotism would be to provide schools with adequate funding.

The bill passed on a 48-10 vote, with all Republicans and some Democrats voting for the bill.

But the bill has an uncertain future in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"Certainly we're going to look at all bills coming over from the House," said Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland.

But "our mind could be even further opened if we agree to fully fund schools," she said. "I guess that's what Oregon schoolchildren would appreciate the most."

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On the Net:

House Bill 2806

htp://www.leg.state.or.us