Schwarzenegger Signs California Journalism Teacher Protection Act

Student journalists and their teachers in California have good reason to rejoice.

Last week Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed one of the toughest laws protecting journalism teachers against unfair retaliation when they stand up for their students' First Amendment right of free speech. Known as Senate Bill 1370, it was sponsored by California State Senator Leland Yee, a champion of student free expression.

"While this law makes the workplace safer for teachers, the real beneficiaries are California's students, who no longer must fear that honest reporting on school events will get their favorite teacher fired," Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank D. LoMonte said. "Governor Schwarzenegger and the California legislature should be commended for sending a message to school officials -- in California and across the nation -- that teachers are not to be used as pawns to intimidate kids into avoiding legitimate topics of discussion."

Multiple newspapers came out with editorials supporting the passage of the Bill.

California's new law provides that no public school or college employee may be dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against solely for acting to protect a student who is engaged in legally protected conduct. This includes the publication of speech that is not obscene, libelous, slanderous or substantially disruptive to the safe operations of the school, according to the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), a Washington, D.C. non-profit who advocates for free press rights for students nationwide.

"Teachers losing their jobs for refusing to censor their students' news reporting is a real and pervasive problem, and it is going on all too commonly in America's schools," LoMonte said.

More states need to pass laws like California's protecting student rights to free speech and making the workplace safer for teachers. Kansas and Colorado are the only other states with anti-retaretaliations protecting journalism teachers.

The press plays a critical role in a democracy; thus, training high school students as journalists and training the student body to read student publications on a regular basis is important preparation for the real world. California Senator Yee, the legislature, and the Governor are to be applauded for supporting the Journalism Teacher Protection Act.

Comments

[DuPageDem]

Way to go, Governator. This is a great law. Now states have to restore the purpose of tenure, which in many states takes forever and has become a joke. That was the purpose of tenure: To protect teachers from firing just because the principal, supt. or school board doesn't like their politics or philosophies.

[kellygrrrl]

I think Ahnold is bailing on the ReThug Party!

Great Job, Maria!

[RobinSeattle]

It's about time. I remember having arguments about this stuff with my student newspaper adviser in high school in the 1970's. Go get 'em kids, since you now have tools to dig into important social matters that me and my classmates didn't.

[johnie2xs]

You know it's funny. In the cases of both Bush and Arnold, when they ascended to their respective positions I said to my self, "What a Joke". Well, Bush still is. But Arnold, bless his Austrian grown heart, has seemed to have shown that no matter what your origins, logic and reason can prevail. However I think he needs some serious introspection, for he shows some very "Democratic" tendencies.
That not withstanding, I salute and commend his laudable stance.

May Reason Prevail!!

[haydesigner]

This is good news indeed!
(but still sad that it was even needed in the first place, as school administrators all too often willfully ignore one of our country's most basic principles)