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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 13, 2025
Promoting American Patriotism In Our Schools Act
This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish, maintain, and enforce policies that require federally funded public elementary and secondary schools to display the U.S. flag, educate students about the U.S. flag, and direct students and staff to recite the Pledge of Allegiance on a daily basis.
Specifically, LEAs, as a condition of receiving federal elementary and secondary education funds, must require the following activities at each school:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
for all students, teachers, and staff to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each school day (with an exception for religious or personal reasons);
for the U.S. flag to be prominently displayed in each classroom and gymnasium; and
for educational materials on the history, significance, and proper display of the U.S. flag to be incorporated into the civics or history curriculum of each grade level.
The bill includes annual certification requirements. Further, the bill authorizes and directs the Department of Education to issue and secure compliance with rules or orders with respect to an LEA that fails to certify (or certifies in bad faith) compliance with the bill's requirements.
People & committees
Rep. Strong, Dale W. [R-AL-5] · R–AL
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 7, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-13 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
H.R. 1351 proposes making federal education funding conditional on local education agencies adopting school policies for daily Pledge of Allegiance recitation, classroom and gymnasium flags, and lessons about the flag. These requirements would cover public elementary and secondary schools receiving funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Students, teachers, and staff could decline to recite the Pledge for religious or personal reasons without punishment, discrimination, or retaliation.
As a condition of receiving funds under this Act, a local educational agency shall establish, maintain, and enforce a policy that requires the following:
all students, teachers, and staff in covered schools shall recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America at the beginning of each school day.
The flag of the United States of America shall be prominently displayed in each classroom and gymnasium of each covered school.
Educational materials on the history, significance, and proper display of the flag of the United States of America shall be incorporated into the civics or history curriculum of each grade level taught at each covered school.
Each policy required under subsection (a) shall include an exception pursuant to which an individual may refrain from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance for religious or personal reasons. No individual may be penalized, discriminated against, or subjected to retaliatory action for exercising the option to refrain from recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in accordance with such exception.
Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 8524 the following:
the term covered school means a public elementary or public secondary school that receives Federal funds under this Act (whether directly or through a subgrant from a State or local educational agency).
Section 1 names the proposal the Promoting American Patriotism In Our Schools Act. Section 2 states Congress's proposed rationale: school activities involving the flag and Pledge promote national identity and unity. This is a legislative finding, not evidence that the requirements would produce those effects.
This Act may be cited as the Promoting American Patriotism In Our Schools Act.
Congress finds the following:
(4) The inclusion of the American flag and the Pledge of Allegiance in the daily activities of elementary and secondary school students serves to promote a sense of national identity and unity.
Section 3 would add a funding condition to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Local education agencies would have to establish, maintain, and enforce the required policies. Covered schools would include public elementary and secondary schools receiving that Act's funds directly or through grants passed along by state or local education agencies.
Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 8524 the following:
As a condition of receiving funds under this Act, a local educational agency shall establish, maintain, and enforce a policy that requires the following:
the term covered school means a public elementary or public secondary school that receives Federal funds under this Act (whether directly or through a subgrant from a State or local educational agency).
Subject to the religious or personal opt-out, students, teachers, and staff would have to recite the Pledge at the beginning of each school day. The proposal specifies the exact form and manner prescribed in section 4 of title 4 of the United States Code.
(1) Subject to subsection (b), all students, teachers, and staff in covered schools shall recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America at the beginning of each school day. The Pledge shall be recited in the exact form and manner set forth in section 4 of title 4, United States Code.
an individual may refrain from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance for religious or personal reasons.
Every classroom and gymnasium in a covered school would have to prominently display an American flag, visible to everyone occupying that room during the school day.
(2) The flag of the United States of America shall be prominently displayed in each classroom and gymnasium of each covered school. Each such flag shall be displayed in a manner that ensures it is visible to all occupants of the classroom or gymnasium during the school day.
Each grade's civics or history curriculum would have to include age-appropriate materials about the flag's history, significance, and proper display. The materials would be required to promote understanding of the values and principles represented by the flag.
(3) Educational materials on the history, significance, and proper display of the flag of the United States of America shall be incorporated into the civics or history curriculum of each grade level taught at each covered school. The materials shall be age appropriate and promote understanding of the values and principles represented by the flag.
Each required policy would have to let individuals decline to recite the Pledge for religious or personal reasons. Anyone exercising that option would be protected against penalties, discrimination, and retaliation.
(b) Exception Each policy required under subsection (a) shall include an exception pursuant to which an individual may refrain from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance for religious or personal reasons. No individual may be penalized, discriminated against, or subjected to retaliatory action for exercising the option to refrain from recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in accordance with such exception.
Local education agencies subject to the requirements would have to certify compliance in writing to their state education agency by October 1 each year. By November 1, the state agency would have to report to the Secretary which agencies had not filed certification or had been the subject of noncompliance complaints to the state agency. A complaint would trigger inclusion on the list without the text requiring a finding that the complaint was valid.
(c) Certification On an annual basis not later than October 1 of each year, each local educational agency subject to the requirements of this section shall certify in writing to the State educational agency involved that the local educational agency is in compliance with such requirements. The State educational agency shall report to the Secretary by November 1 of each year a list of those local educational agencies that have not filed the certification or against which complaints have been made to the State educational agency that the local educational agencies are not in compliance with this section.
The Secretary would be authorized and directed to issue rules or orders and secure compliance when a local education agency failed to certify compliance or was found to have certified in bad faith.
(d) Enforcement The Secretary is authorized and directed to effectuate this section by issuing, and securing compliance with, rules or orders with respect to a local educational agency that fails to certify, or is found to have certified in bad faith, that the agency is in compliance with the requirements of this section.
The amendments would take effect 180 days after enactment and apply to school years beginning on or after that effective date.
(b) Effective date and applicability The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to school years beginning on or after such effective date.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated August 7, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on February 13, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-08-07T08:05:34Z. 2025-02-13: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2025-02-13: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-13. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying materials and other versions could provide additional evidence.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential benefit, carve-out, or special exemption was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 7, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI