HARRISBURG, Pa. — A little-known Pennsylvania law is on the chopping block, again. It says teachers cannot wear any religious clothing in state schools.
In 1894, several Nuns were hired to teach at a public school in Cambria County, during a time when anti-Catholic sentiment was prevalent.
"A couple protestant parents complained and tried to have the Nuns fired," said Steve Nolt, a history professor at Elizabethtown College.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the firings but determined to keep the Nuns out, the general assembly passed the 'garb law' the following year.
"Because of the way they wrote it, they thought that it only applied to Nuns, but it turns out there are other people in Pennsylvania, then and now, who wear religiously distinctive clothing," Nolt said.
In 1908, a Mennonite teacher was fired from her job teaching in a Lancaster County school for wearing a head covering.
She tried to fight the decision, but the state superior court upheld the law.
Nearly a century later, the law would be tested again in 2003, this time by a teacher in Western Pennsylvania.
"That individual was suspended for wearing a cross and she challenged the law," said John E. Jones III, a former U.S. district judge and the president of Dickinson College.
A federal court sided with the teacher, ruling the law is likely unconstitutional and goes against the free exercise of the first amendment.
Two dozen states have since passed similar laws copying Pennsylvania's between 1895 and the mid-1940s.
"As of 2017, every other state in the nation has erased this law," said Republican State Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill.
Phillips-Hill is part of a bipartisan effort to remove the law.
Teachers unions tell FOX43 it hasn't been enforced in decades, but the garb ban could still be keeping teachers from different religions out of the classroom.
A practicing Muslim, cyber school teacher Meryem Tayoune has worn a hijab head covering since she was a teenager.
At first, she thought the law would keep her from becoming a teacher.
"When I got to college, I didn't major in Education, even though I wanted to be an educator since I was seven," she said.
Despite the law, Tayoune's instructors at Shippensburg University reassured her of her first amendment rights.
"It was the first time I felt really American, honestly," she said. "I was like, 'Okay, I'm accepted.' I get to not only follow my religion, but also follow my dreams."
Jones said the antiquated law shouldn't stand.
"It's timely for them to do this before a court has to do the work for them," he added.
"It's time, once and for all, that we remove it from our books," Phillips-Hill said.
After a unanimous vote in the state senate, legislation to remove the garb law must now pass the state house.