Proposed Legislation Would Ban
Teachers From Discussing Politics
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
A bill in the Arizona legislature would ban teachers and professors from advocating any political position in the classroom.
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State Senator Thayer Verschoor is pitching his proposed law as a way to encourage students to speak up in classrooms without fearing reprisals from instructors.
“This is absolutely about academic freedom. It allows students to practice their First Amendment right without fear of a poor grade because of it or any retaliation because they disagree with the instructor,” Verschoor said during an Arizona Senate committee hearing, according to an Associated Press report Tuesday (Feb. 27, 2007).
Verschoor is a republican from Gilbert, Arizona, and is the Arizona Senate majority leader. His bill is similar to other proposals that sought to muzzle professors and teachers as a way to encourage students who do not believe in evolution or other controversial subjects.
If Verschoor’s bill becomes law, it would herald a “new era of censorship,” the AP quoted Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona as saying.
“It certainly does raise significant free-speech concerns for teachers,” Meetze said.