Becoming Law

Tomorrow is the deadline for the Governor to sign bills into law. Thus far, Team Yee has received 12 signatures, 2 vetoes, and 4 still pending.

Here are the highlights from today:

Juvenile Justice Communication Bill Signed into Law

Governor Signs Bills in Response to Cosco Busan Oil Spill

New Law Expected to Reduce Juvenile Recidivism and Homelessness

California Shields Journalism Advisors from Retaliation by Administrators
New law adds to 2006 statute that protects students to also protect employees

SACRAMENTO – California continues to lead the nation in protecting free speech rights for high school and college students. A new law authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) will protect high school and college teachers and other employees from retaliation by administrators as a result of student speech, which most often happens when a journalism advisor or professor is disciplined for content in a student newspaper.

On Sunday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) signed Senate Bill 1370, which follows a 2006 law also authored by Yee which prohibits censorship of student press by administrators and protects students from being disciplined for engaging in speech or press activities.

There have been a number of documented cases throughout the state of journalism advisors being dismissed or reassigned due to student speech. In fact, Senator Yee’s office has learned of cases in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Claremont, Fremont, Novato, Oxnard, Rialto, and Garden Grove, among others. In the past few months, there have been cases documented in Redding and Fallbrook as well.

“I am very pleased to see California continue to ensure true freedom of the press is alive and well on our campuses,” said Yee. “Allowing a school administration to censor in any way is contrary to the democratic process and the ability of a student newspaper to serve as the watchdog and bring sunshine to the actions of school administrators. It is quite disheartening to hear, that after we specifically prohibited prior restraint by administrators, that some are engaging in this type of nefarious activity and even firing quality teachers because of content in the student newspaper.”

“Senator Yee is a champion for student voices, and he deserves special recognition and thanks for his tireless work in shepherding Senate Bill 1370 over tough opposition,” said Frank LoMonte, Executive Director of the Student Press Law Center. “Students don’t have high-priced lobbyists or campaign PACs, but in California they have something better – Senator Leland Yee.”

Specifically, SB 1370 will prohibit an employee from being dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against for acting to protect a student’s speech.

A Los Angeles Unified School District case is one of many where a highly respected and successful newspaper advisor was removed from his position. In November 2006, the student newspaper published an editorial criticizing random searches conducted on campus. The newspaper advisor, Darryl Adams, was immediately removed after refusing to eliminate the editorial at the principal’s request. Adams was later removed as basketball coach and even as announcer for the football games.

“In a span of four months, they all but stripped me of my professional existence,” said Adams.

Most recently, Fallbrook high school teacher Dave Evans was removed by the principal as the school’s newspaper advisor a day after Evans warned the school board that parents and students were preparing to sue the district for the principal's censorship of a news article about the dismissal of the superintendent and a student-written editorial critical of the federal government’s abstinence-only sex education program. The principle, Rod King, also cancelled the journalism program, which had just captured second place in the American Scholastic Press Association national competition.

"Thanks to Senator Yee's legislation, advisors like me will no longer be subject to the kind of pernicious, retaliatory conduct I experienced,” said Evans. “Educators are charged with always acting in the best interests of their students. Now advisors can do so without fear, and administrators act contrary at their own peril.”

Another case involved Janet Ewell, a Garden Grove tenured teacher and certified journalism educator, who was removed as newspaper advisor in 2002 despite her students winning numerous journalism awards. The school’s principal admitted to student reporters that he had removed Ewell as a result of editorials that ran in the school newspaper. The editorials focused on such issues as the school bathrooms, cafeteria food and a teacher who was unavailable to help students.

Ronnie Campagna, a journalism teacher of 18 years at San Marin High School in Novato, was removed in 2003 and replaced by a new teacher with no previous journalism experience after the student paper published stories critical of the administration. For example, one story criticized the school administration for not letting students stand up in the bleachers during varsity basketball games. The school board went so far as to attempt dissolving the entire program until parents protested and even offered to fund the class themselves.

In San Francisco, journalism and English teacher Katharine Swan was told that she must find a different school in which to teach after her students covered a first-year principal's attempts to effect prior restraint and influence coverage of events occurring at the school.

“Since administrators are unable by law to exercise prior restraint with regard to a student publication, they lean on advisers to do what they legally cannot,” said Jim Ewert, Legal Counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA). “When advisers refuse, they are punished because administrators know they will face no legal consequences. SB 1370 was necessary to close this gaping loophole in the law.”

Recently, the Newspaper Association of America Foundation released a study that found students who work on high school newspapers and yearbooks are more likely to receive better grades in high school and college as well as score higher on college entrance exams.

In addition to support from CNPA, SB 1370 is endorsed by the California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association, California State Student Association, Associated Students of the University of California (Davis), California School Employees Association, California State University Employees Union, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), State Employees Trades Council, Council of University of California Faculty Associations, Service Employees International Union, California Faculty Association, California Nurses Association, American Civil Liberties Union, and California Labor Federation.

The bill officially becomes law on January 1, 2009.