Posted on 01/26/2010 11:10:38 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
A regulation barring New York City teachers from wearing political campaign buttons in public high schools does not violate their constitutional right to free speech, a federal judge has ruled.
Rejecting the teachers' argument that high school students would "spontaneously understand" that the buttons were not part of the curriculum, Southern District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan held that the plaintiffs had "offered no admissible evidence to undermine" the city's argument that "displays of political partisanship by teachers in the schools" could "influence children and impinge on the rights of students to learn in an environment free of partisan political influence."
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On Sept. 23, 2008, the United Federation of Teachers sent an e-mail to its chapter leaders that said union members were free to wear political buttons during school and could post political posters from the union on union bulletin boards and disseminate materials from the union to mailboxes.
The general counselor to Chancellor Joel I. Klein informed the union that wearing political buttons and posting political materials amounted to a violation of regulation D-130.
On Oct. 1, 2008, the Board of Education warned principals that teachers must abide by the regulation "in light of the upcoming presidential election" and that failure to do so could result in disciplinary action.
(Excerpt) Read more at law.com ...
And, let's face it, the teachers were most likely wearing Obama buttons PRECISELY in an effort to favor one viewpoint over the other.
How about next telling teachers to STFU when it comes to property tax increases in local communities? Instead teachers send kids home telling them that the school might lose their accredidation and they’ll never get into college, teachers might get laid off or there will be no more sports or music UNLESS their parents don’t vote for tax increases.
Unions = inherently Democrat.
ping
Yeah. I point blank once told my kid her teacher was lying to them in order to get a raise. I suppose I should be glad that the school didn't send child protective squad after me.
I recall the teachers (including one for a friend of mine’s son) who conducted in class “votes” and then chastized those who did not vote for Obama (the one that brought a visit to the principal was one student who wrote in Rush < Limbaugh > ).
Teacher’s personal political, religious or social views (generally) have no place in the classroom, whatever they are.
Good! Glad to see them not putting up with this trash.
Lets have kids sit in an indoctrinate camp for 8 hours a day... oh ... they already do.
but...but...this decision is extreme. Is there no center ground? Lets split it down the middle; say leftist buttons are okay but conservative buttons are forbidden.
Teachers in favor of such things (THEIR wearing “political buttons”) have their “freedom of speech” judgments backwards.
They are not given their academic post to use it as their own personal political soapbox.
Out of respect for the freedoms of their students, PUBLIC school teachers need to be politically and religiously agnostic.
An agnostic, in a political or religious sense, is neither a booster nor a detractor of any certain position.
Teachers are not hired to help their students arrive at a particular conclusion, on matters that contain different opinions, but to help them obtain the knowledge and critical thinking skills to form their own conclusions.
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