News What a Cool Bill
posted by on January 19 at 14:25 PM
A recent Knight Foundation survey found that 49% of high schoolers agreed with this statement: “It is OK for the government to censor the news.”
Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D-33, Sea Tac, Des Moines), who’s obsessed with civics (I get the impression he thinks he got a shitty high-school education when it came to learning about citizenship), has a bill that would prevent high-school and college adminstrations from censoring news and editorial opinion in school newspapers.
Certainly, the papers don’t have free reign to print libel, or publish an unwarranted invasion of privacy, or create imminent danger, but Upthegrove’s bill ensures that students’ rights to freedom of the press are not trammeled by, you know, adminstrators who, kissing up to weirdo parents, tend to censor Al Gore movies and stuff.
Read the whole bill, it’s cool. Here’s an excerpt:
The legislature finds that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are fundamental principles in our democratic society granted to every citizen of this state and the nation by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and by Article 1, section 5 of the state Constitution. These freedoms provide all citizens, including students, with the right to engage in robust and uninhibited discussion of issues. The legislature finds that court decisions have not provided adequate protection for the free speech and free press rights of students. The legislature intends to ensure free speech and free press protections for both high school and college students in the state in order to encourage students to become educated, informed, and responsible members of society.
P.S. to Rep. Upthegrove: Learning about the Tinker decision in my HS jounalism class did in fact, hot-wire my brain for all time.
An excellent idea if you ask me. Seems like Upthegrove has been doing some great shit lately from DP/gay marriage to Puget Sound.
If approved, this bill will make Washington the first state in the country to extend freedom of the press to both high school and college-level student publications.
I think The Daily beat you guys to the punch on this one... It's cool though, the Times and the PI still don't have a fucking clue.
That poll isn't surprising. Most high schoolers can't differentiate between 'you're' and 'your'.
Yes. This is a very cool bill. And one that is more than a little necessary.
I talked with Upthegrove about this and other bills, and he's introducing a bunch of legislation that would really help this state.
And as for that poll, it's all too scary. Surprising, no, unfortunately not, but that's the reality of our high schools and the public education system.
I'll be testifying in Olympia on behalf of the bill as an editor of a college paper and former editor of a high school paper which was engaged in a heated censorship war.
Any help would be greatly appreciated at what I should say in Congress. Because I wasn't entirely expecting this opportunity.
Victoria, your not being fair to the the high school students. You're bias is showing.
Ryan, it's not just the public school system that has problems. I know a few very nice students from the Bush School who have some issues when it comes to current affairs and spelling.
Dave has a lot of good ideas, and a lot of heart. Check out his Myspace page(www.myspace.com/upthegrove), and his blog there... he definitely keeps 'in touch' with the public.
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