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November 10, 2007

Interesting Comment

Here's an interesting comment from Willy on the post below about the antiwar Illinois students threated with explusion:

I student-taught at Morton West a few years ago. The admin there is kinda crappy, given that I never saw the principal out of his office in the 10 weeks I was teaching. That he'd overreact to the students' demonstrating is no surprise to me...I got the impression he was afraid of students and teachers alike.

Another telling fact is the postponement of the expulsion hearing. Boards usually back their Superintendent, since this is the guy they hired to run the district. Voting not to expel would be a slap at the Super, and by association would be dissing themselves.

However, as a former school board member (not of Morton district) I would not be inclined to expel, mainly because there was no serious disruption to the educational process.

Posted at November 10, 2007 11:29 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Children have rights in school, both the demonstrating ones (free speech) and the others (education). This case, sure to be legally contested, might turn (as Willy suggests) on whether there was a significant disruption or not, and if so, what the appropriate penalty is.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) was a United States Supreme Court case that resulted in a decision defining the constitutional rights of students in U.S. public schools. The Tinker test is still used by courts today to determine whether a school's disciplinary actions violate students' First Amendment rights. Holding: The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth, did not permit a public school to punish a student for wearing a black armband as an anti-war protest, absent any evidence that the rule was necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others.

The court's 7 to 2 decision was handed down on February 24, 1969. It held that the First Amendment applied to public schools, and that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_v._Des_Moines_Independent_Community_School_District

In Bethel v. Fraser, 1986 the Court held: The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth, permits a public school to punish a student for giving a lewd and indecent, but not obscene, speech at a school assembly.

Posted by: Don Bacon at November 10, 2007 02:39 PM

Don Bacon :EXCELLENT, Thankx.

Posted by: Mike Meyer at November 10, 2007 03:39 PM