It was an idea that certainly had its merits. It was a great civics lesson on how state government works. It has now become a bill that won't see the light of day any more, at least for this session of the Louisiana Legislature.

Wednesday the House Committee on Education decided against moving forward with a bill that would eliminate school uniforms in Louisiana public schools. The bill, presented by Representative Chris Broadwater, was actually the idea of some fourth grade students from his district.

Representative Broadwater brought these kids together and had them go through the process of debate and discussion to reach a decision on what the bill would say. He promised the students he would bring their idea to the legislature. According to Broadwater the students reasoning behind banning uniforms was based on economics and compassion.

Low economic students who can’t afford maybe but one pair of regular clothes and so the uniform really affords an opportunity for them not to be singled out because they might not have it.

While many of the legislators applauded Representative Broadwater's method of getting students involved in the legislative process they could not applaud the idea of banning uniforms.

Speaking to the Louisiana Radio Network, Representative Beryl Amadee said that she supports school uniforms.

It seems that there were less items of clothing that were in high demand so a lot of the bullying and abuse settled down after school uniforms.

Representative Ed Price agreed with Amadee and voiced his own experiences with mandating uniforms for public school students.

Schools that were using uniforms, academic achievement was greatly up. That was the thing that led us to move to that position more than anything.

Still the lesson in this legislation was a good one. It taught fourth grade students that they do have a voice. That voice can be heard by the people who govern our state. They also learned that you don't always get your way. All great lessons that many of our citizens need to come to grips with.

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