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SACRAMENTO — Saying the flag salute is a worthy tradition, Gov. Gray Davis has vetoed a bill that would have allowed schools to substitute a Declaration of Independence excerpt for the Pledge of Allegiance. 

“There are inspiring passages from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States which are and should be part of the school curriculum,” Davis said Wednesday in his veto message. 

“However, ... pledging allegiance to the flag is a tradition worthy of this great nation. I see no reason to depart from that time-honored tradition.” 

Current law requires schools to hold daily patriotic exercises and says the Pledge of Allegiance satisfies that requirement. 

The vetoed bill, by Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, R-Encinitas, would have allowed schools to substitute recitation of the following passage for the flag salute: 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, depriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” 

Kaloogian said that reciting that passage would improve students’ understanding of American history and government and their rights as U.S. citizens. 

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On the Net: Read the bill, AB1747, at www.assembly.ca.gov