Jessica Coomes The Arizona Republic Feb. 16, 2007 12:00 AM
Classrooms should not be forums for schoolteachers and college professors to espouse political opinions, a group of lawmakers concluded Thursday.
A proposed law would prohibit any instructor in a public school or college from advocating or opposing a political candidate or one side of a social, political or cultural issue that is part of a partisan debate.
Supporters said the measure would let students disagree with instructors without fearing retribution. But college students and education advocates worry it would discourage instructors from leading discussions and debates on controversial topics. advertisement
Legislators disagreed and approved the bill in a House committee, saying students should not receive a biased education.
"In any class, any issue could be discussed as long as the instructor is neutral on the issue and not telling you what your conclusion should be," said Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, who wrote the bill.
Devin Mauney, a sophomore economics major at Arizona State University, told lawmakers that his economics professor this semester has done research to support private Social Security accounts, and the research is talked about in class.
"That's fine. That's part of education," Mauney said.
But the proposed law is so far-reaching that it wrongly would forbid such discussion because private Social Security accounts are a partisan issue, said Mauney, chairman of the Arizona Students' Association.
In an example of the type of behavior he is targeting, Verschoor said one of his granddaughters' elementary teachers required the class to write letters to a lawmaker opposing a certain bill.
Verschoor said he would not have a problem if the teacher asked students to form their own opinions about the bill and then write a letter accordingly.
Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, said she has concerns about Verschoor's proposal, but she voted for it so it could move out of committee and to the full Senate for consideration.
"Where is the line if the teacher asks students to write a letter of encouragement to a soldier?" Gray asked, saying that could be construed as partisan support of the Iraq war.
Also, in a class discussion about global warming, Sen. Meg Burton Cahill, D-Tempe, said the bill seemingly would require teachers to include information to support the argument that global warming does not exist.
"I think something like this would be challenged by any student who believes there's not enough time or consideration given to their perspective," she said.
Jennifer Daily, a lobbyist for the Arizona Education Association, said the bill is "so broad," and individual school districts already have policies that forbid political behavior from teachers in the classroom.
University presidents should be given the chance to resolve the problem instead of the Legislature, said Chris Gustafson, the senate president of the Undergraduate Student Government at Arizona State University.
"My concern is this is far too expansive," said Gustafson, a sophomore history and political-science major.
The bill was approved 4-3 in the Senate Government Committee with Republicans voting for the measure and Democrats voting against.
Sen. Charlene Pesquiera, D-Oro Valley, said she has been to 17 schools in the past two months, and she has not seen a teacher lead debate in one direction.
The bill will go to the full Senate for consideration and would need approval from the House and Gov. Janet Napolitano before becoming law.
On Wednesday, the Senate K-12 Committee voted to kill the same idea, 5-3, when it was called Senate Bill 1612. Republicans then sought approval in the Government Committee under Senate Bill 1542 on Thursday.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0216teach-opinions0216.html
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