As if they weren't busy enough at this time of year, local schools across Texas are struggling through a legal minefield laid by legislators in Austin last spring. A new state mandate creating that minefield should have come with a package warning: "Following this law will probably get you sued."

The mandate comes in HB 3678, which supporters claimed would protect the right of students to express their religious views in public schools. Sadly, the law is a lesson in what happens when elected officials play politics with the religious faith of families and their children.

The law's supporters say the bill will protect students who, for example, write about their faith in homework, distribute religious items to other students, and even wish our troops overseas "Merry Christmas." Yet courts have consistently reined in the few overzealous school officials who have improperly restricted such activities. After all, the First Amendment clearly protects the right to religious expression for all, including students.

Our country is home to people of a great diversity of faiths. What binds us together is the principle that our government should never be used to favor one faith over all others. The First Amendment protects that principle. This new law weakens it. How so?

It mandates that schools turn public events, such as morning announcements and football games, into "limited public forums." Student speakers are then permitted to use those events to promote their own religious beliefs or even attempt to convert their fellow students.

The law provides a single-model policy for schools. Supporters claim that districts adopting this model need not worry about lawsuits. But legal scholars say schools would leave themselves open to federal lawsuits for potentially violating the religious freedom of students and their families.

During the last legislative session, Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston walked off the Senate floor when a Muslim imam opened the day with a prayer. A Christian, Mr. Patrick claimed his presence would have implied an endorsement of religious beliefs he does not share.

Students, on the other hand, can't leave a school function at which their presence is required. If a speaker uses a school event to evangelize, the school will not be a neutral actor. It will be forcing all students to participate in a function that promotes religious views they and their families may not share.

Consider some scenarios. When a Wiccan student council president closes morning announcements each day with a prayer to the Mother Goddess, will Christian families object? What happens when the captain of the football team decides to use his pep rally speech to mock the faith of opposing players – and, potentially, the faith of some students in his own school? Under this law, the hands of school officials are tied.

You can almost see the attorneys lining up. In fact, the attorneys who crafted HB 3678 make a living suing school districts over these kinds of issues. They even opposed a measure that would have barred students from using the law to discriminate against other students.

"Really and truly, we're just trying to have school, and I think this is a complicating factor," a weary school official in Abilene told a newspaper reporter recently. Indeed.

Lawmakers should have used some common sense. They could have simply provided schools with training on how the First Amendment protects religious freedom and then held them accountable. But they decided local schools needed another state mandate instead. Now local taxpayers may have to foot the legal bills.

Kathy Miller is president of the Texas Freedom Network, a grassroots public policy organization that promotes public education, religious freedom and individual liberties. E-mail her at TFN@tfn.org.