Oklahoma City ? A pair of state lawmakers have introduced measures designed to protect students from religious discrimination, but some former teachers question whether such measures are necessary.

Oklahoma City Republicans Reps. Mike Reynolds and Sally Kern both have introduced nearly identical bills for the upcoming session dubbed the Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act.

Both authors say the measures simply place into state statute what already is allowed under rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“There’s a great deal of confusion out there,” said Kern, who taught U.S. government at public schools for nearly 20 years, including the last nine at Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City. “Any time a student says something about God or Jesus, they’re immediately censored.”

The bills state that a voluntary expression by a student of a religious viewpoint should be treated in the same manner as an expression of any secular or nonreligious viewpoint, and both measures forbid districts from discriminating against students based on religious viewpoints.

Both measures also require every district in the state to adopt a written policy on student speakers that would prohibit such discrimination.

“Oklahoma families need to know their children will not be persecuted for exercising their constitutional rights and expressing religious beliefs at school,” Reynolds said. “While students and guest speakers can’t proselytize, they have every right to express their personal beliefs and should be given the same protections afforded nonreligious or even anti-religious officials.”

Reynolds said his bill, modeled after a new Texas law, complies with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on religious expression at schools.

But Jim Huff, a retired Oklahoma schoolteacher and the executive secretary of the Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the proposed law isn’t needed since court rulings on the issue are clear.

“I fail to see what the purpose is other than simply trying to drum up an issue that doesn’t exist,” said Huff, who taught for more than 35 years at public schools in Oklahoma City.

“In my judgment, there is another motive for these bills than what is being espoused. It probably has something to do with politics, catering to a certain group in Oklahoma. I think it’s a shame that legislators resort to that.”