CA teachers face a discipline for comments about Charlie Kirk

From Carolyn JonesCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

At least 20 teachers in California K-12 schools face disciplinary action after making shameful comments about the right political activist Charlie Kirk after his murder last month.

Most of the disciplinary investigations are based on comments that teachers made on social media, during non-working hours, a possible violation of their right to freedom of expression, said David Goldberg, President of the California Association of Teachers, the largest State Union of Teachers.

“People are ready to attack the teachers. The goal is to sow fear,” Goldberg said. “This is part of a greater attempt to bring cultural wars to schools and to remain silent teachers.”

Kirk was fatally shot during an event on the campus at the University of Utah on September 10, in what employees described as a political murder. After his death, hundreds of people Anyone who criticizes Kirk’s ideology is fired, disciplined or doxen, their personal information online was published to get into harassment.

Other countries have seen many more teachers, fired or disciplined for kirk comments. In California, the state laws protecting free speech and the strong agreements of the Union have so far maintained the number relatively low. Texas, for example, is Investigation of at least 280 teachers about Kirk’s criticism.

“Safe and respectful environment”

In California, One of the incidents It happened in the school neighborhood of Pacheco Union in Reading, where a teacher claimed to have published: “You reap what you sow, the Kirk” in their account in their personal media account. The area did not baptize the teacher. Other news organizations published his name, but Calmatters failed to confirm it independently.

Earlier, the teacher also posted a video of Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Green with the words: “Shall anyone, will he kill her?” The teacher was placed on paid leave, and then the school board fired him.

“We are committed to ensuring that our classrooms and our entire school community remain a positive and secure place for all students to study and grow,” writes Chief Jacob Fuller on the school’s website. “The area does not justify violence in any form and is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all.”

Other incident Has originated in the University Dry Crick Quarter, TK-8 district in Roshules, near Sacramento. A high school teacher apparently called Kirk a “piece of s -“, ​​among other things, in his personal social media account, which prompted a quick turn from parents and more.

The area will not confirm the teacher’s identity and although reported by other news organizations, Calmatters failed to confirm it independently. A teacher who does not respond to Calmatters emails is on paid leave until the area is completed.

“The post is both unprofessional and concerned,” the area said in the area. “Personal comments that the employee is said to not reflect the values, standards or mission of the area. We take this issue seriously.”

Jonathan Zahreson, an activist of conservative education in California, said he would like to see a teacher accountability and condemnation of the Union. Member of the board of a different school area of ​​Roshawil, Bagreson has been defender For K-12 policies notifying parents, if students identify themselves as LGBTQ, Kirk’s policy also supports. Dry Creek members could not comment on the case, as the investigation continues.

Zahreson said incidents like these should be processed individually, depending on the nature of the comments and how private the positions are. But if the investigation into the Dry Creek area concluded that the teacher wrote this comment, the teacher should be fired, he said.

“Many parents do not want their child in the classroom with someone like that,” said Bahreson. “Freedom of expression does not mean freedom of consequences.”

Dangerous precedent?

California has laws that prohibit employers from dismissing workers for their political views. And the first amendment guarantees freedom of speech, but there are some restrictions: employers have the right to limit workers’ speech if it is destructive to the workplace.

Erwin Chemerinski, Dean of the Faculty of Law of UC Berkeley, said the teachers who publish in their private social media accounts during non -working hours are unlikely to break their work in the classroom.

“There is always an impulse to punish the speech we don’t like. But the first correction protects the whole speech,” Chemerinsky said. “After you open this door, it can put a very dangerous precedent. What about the teachers who criticize Donald Trump?”

The California School Council Association has not provided the school advice to the school advice for the processing of Charlie Kirk’s comments, as each area has its own contract with teachers and the staff questions are considered a local problem.

But usually a teacher who is suspected of breaking the workplace through inappropriate speech would be the subject of a district investigation and, if found to be guilty, discipline by the school council. New employees still on probation have less protection, but any employee may face consequences ranging from reprimand to termination. The teacher can protest the action by filed a complaint and if it fails, they may appeal the decision. Some teachers in other countries have filed lawsuitsS Teachers in private schools usually have less protection.

Regardless of the result, the process can be destructive to staff and harmful to students, Goldberg said. Students can lose their teacher in the middle of the school year and the teachers “can turn their lives upside down,” he said. Most teachers have no resources and patience to take advantage of a prolonged legal struggle that may not be successful in the current political climate, he said.

Therefore, the Union has recently advised its members to be extremely cautious when posting online.

“We tell the teachers, we know your rights and introduce our Union representative,” Goldberg said. “We have to be careful in this climate and take care of each other.”

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.