AL Ends 28-Year Ban On Yoga In Schools But Parents Must Sign Permission Slip On Its Roots In Hinduism

The Birmingham News reports:

Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill allowing Alabama public schools to offer instruction in yoga. The law ends a ban on yoga adopted by the State Board of Education in 1993 because of yoga’s connections to Hinduism.

The Senate amended the bill to say that “School personnel may not use any techniques that involve hypnosis, the induction of a dissociative mental state, guided imagery, meditation, or any aspect of Eastern philosophy and religious training.”

For students to participate, their parents would have to sign a permission slip saying that they understand yoga is part of the Hindu religion.

Read the full article. The bill’s Democratic author, seen below, says he will work next year to excise the “unnecessary” amendments.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill allowing yoga to be taught in schools, overturning a 1993 ban. But the bill bans chanting and requires parents to sign a permission slip acknowledging yoga is associated with Hinduism – https://t.co/fbtk98L3PA

— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) May 21, 2021