Many scholastic media advisers confronted with demands that they censor their student journalists rely on their teachers organization or union to aid in their defense.  The two largest national high school teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have a long history of supporting academic freedom and free expression. In fact, in 2008 NEA adopted a resolution (B-55) that says the union “believes that freedom of speech and press are fundamental principles in our democratic society granted by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and these freedoms provide all people, including students, with the right to engage in robust and uninhibited discussion of issues in student media.”

One local chapter of that union clearly hasn’t gotten the message.  As reported in the Lahontan Valley News, the Churchill County Education Association in Fallon, Nev., has demanded that the Churchill County School District censor the student newspaper at Churchill County High School.  The student newspaper’s offense? It wrote a story about the fact that local parents are demanding the district investigate why student audition tapes for the state honor choir were never submitted to the state body that was supposed to consider them.  Apparently, the school’s vocal music teacher, who refused to comment for the story in The Flash, decided the way to overcome this controversy was to silence student discussion of it in the student newspaper.

I’ve seen a draft of the story, written by Churchill County student Lauren MacLean; it is student journalism at its best: fact-based, not inflammatory, insightful, relevant.  It simply gives readers the facts and lets them reach their own conclusions.

It isn’t difficult to understand a teacher attempting to silence evidence of wrongdoing (or actions that might be perceived as wrongdoing); government officials have been trying to do that since time began.  We put the First Amendment in our Constitution to prevent that kind of behavior.  But it is surprising, and deserving of criticism, that a union has decided to support that teacher and file a demand with the school district that it “prevent the publication and distribution of the student article.”

The good news is that the school isn’t going along with the demand.  As reported in the Lahontan Valley News, school Superintendent Carolyn Ross had this response: “I don’t control speech, and I don’t control press. I’m not stopping it.” Three cheers for that wise school administrator.  And a big “what where you thinking?” to the teachers union that chose to support censorship.