LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill to lift the state's ban on public school teachers wearing religious clothing including habits, hijabs and yarmulkes in the classroom.

Senators gave the measure final approval Thursday with a 39-5 vote. Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer, of Norfolk, introduced the measure after a nun in his district was rejected for a substitute teaching job because her faith calls for her to wear a habit.

The bill seeks to repeal a ban enacted in 1919 under pressure from the Ku Klux Klan. Thirty-six other states had similar bans, and all but Nebras...