More on buttons
October 2, 2008 am31 2:09 am
Follow up to DoE saying no campaign buttons. My post here. Gotham Schools post here.
This e-mail raises an important issue. If you are in a school where the principal instructs your to “de-button,” you should do so, inform your Chapter Leader, who should inform the District Rep. We don’t need teachers and other UFT members getting written up for insubordination while UFT Central is trying to solve this through negotiations (or court)
DOE is taking the position that our members cannot wear candidate buttons in school. Randi is committed to fighting this, including going to court to protect our first amendment rights. Members who are told by their principals not to wear buttons should let their district representative know. Remind them that failure to comply with a directive could lead to disciplinary charges. [Our counsel] and others are in contact with the DOE and we hope to have this matter settled as soon as possible.
Expect the UFT to win this, and expect to see lots of Obama buttons in schools…
4 Comments
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JD2718 
Our school has a dress code. Students would be prohibited from wearing clothing with political messages. Allowing only teachers to express political views isn’t free speech, but a selection of who may express him or herself. I’m all for public discourse, but at the very least, teachers should not assume rights under the cloak of “freedom of speech” that are not given to the students.
Mike,
Do the teachers have a dress code in your school? I presume not, so why do they have the freedoms that students do not? If I am wrong, I apologize for making an incorrect assumption. Otherwise, I am eagerly awaiting your response.
In fact, in my school neither teachers nor students have a dress code (matching accessories or sneakers wins praise from administration, but that’s another matter).
There are rights that teachers have that students do not (such as going down the block for lunch), but speech is everyone’s.
jd nailed it. Of course teachers have liberties in school that students do not, but speech is one of those constitutional things (lexicographically first, as amendments go).