LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have advanced a bill that would lift Nebraska's ban on public school teachers wearing religious garb such as habits, hijabs and yarmulkes in the classroom.

Senators voted 41-1 Thursday to send the bill to a final vote. Speaker Jim Scheer says he introduced the measure so public schools don't punish teachers for what they wear. He learned about the issue after a nun was rejected for a substitute teaching job in Norfolk.

It would repeal a ban enacted in 1919 under pressure from the Ku Klux Klan. Thirty-six other states had similar bans, and all but Nebrask...