Hi guys! This Monday, I was back in education committee, where I didn't get the chance to listen to the hearings on many bills, but I will tell you about the two that I did.
First there was SB1384 (which, in case you were wondering, SB refers to "Senate Bill" and HB refers to "House Bill", all of the committee bills are SBs instead of HBs now because they are hearing Senate Bills now). This bill, to all of our Gazette writers, would ensure freedom of speech to student journalists in high schools and colleges. The concern was that in certain schools the administration would remove parts or all of articles from being published because of either how it portrays the school, the controversy of the topic, etc. There were a lot of great testimonies from student journalists across the state, if you would like to watch it all you can here:
(Also, to those of you who were wondering, I don't know what's going on with the videos- they are meant to start at the specific time that I set it at, I don't know why they are starting at the beginning of the hearing, but from now on I will tell you what times to watch just in case it doesn't work. This video goes from 0.51.53-1.51.49, which I realize is super long so feel free to skip around and watch the parts you want)
The next bill was SB1099, which integrates the SRO (School Resource Officers) program into the Department of Education and continues its existence. This program essentially puts police officers in schools that request them to help prevent incidents from occurring and to educate students on different aspects of the law. The opponents to this law listed concerns that many students feel uncomfortable with police officers around because many of their family members are deported by police officials, as well as some statistics showing how minorities are disproportionately arrested by police officers and how this would affect the students at these schools. Despite this, it still passed through the committee, as did the previous bill.
And lastly, the quote of the day, which again comes from one of the teachers of the day at the education committee, and again highlights the importance of citizen testimony to the legislators. I know I'm double dipping (because I already talked about this in another post), but watching representatives talk with constituents is honestly one of my favorite parts of my time at the legislature, so I'll leave the whole clip for you to watch (0.1.25-0.8.55):
Monday, March 6, 2017
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Hi Mimi. It sounds like you had an interesting week, but I just had one question regarding SB1384. Do you know if this Bill will "overturn" previous Supreme court rulings indicating that student newspapers are subject to prior restraint?
ReplyDeleteGreat job on Week 5! Really interesting to know that student journalist are trying to get more freedoms. This relates to a case we studied in AP US Government about student's trying to gain free speech while in school. If this bill gets passed, it would impact my daily life, which is really cool. Also, would it overturn previous Supreme Court rulings? Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to next week.
Hi Mimi! The first senate bill you talked about is particularly interesting, as it would directly impact our school and its newspaper. The opposition to the second bill made some good points that I wasn't aware of, but they definitely seem like important reasons to object the bill.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Gazetteer, I'm proud of the ability to criticize the school. After all, journalism is all about being able to go after the people who support you. Does this bill apply to all schools, or only public schools, as the Supreme Court ruling does (thanks wikipedia)?
ReplyDeleteHey Mimi! Wow, your posts just get more and more interesting. it feels like I'm learning something new about the political process each and every week! I wish you the best of luck as the weeks go by and keep doing what you're doing! :)
ReplyDeleteHey Mimi! You talked about how you like listening to constituents talking to their representatives. Have you noticed this input change any representatives' votes? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey Mimi! Thank you for clarifying the difference between House and Senate bills. What effect (if there is one) do you think SB1384 would have on student journalism at our school? I wish you success in your future endeavours.
ReplyDeleteHey Mimi! Again, sorry for the late comment, but things have been a little weird lately. Anyway, it must be really cool to sit in on these meetings, seeing that many (or all) of the things that are discussed have directly affected our lives at one point. I guess my question is more of an issue-dependent one: how do you feel about the employment of police officers in schools as a safety mechanism? See you next week!
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