Monday, September 12, 2011

Senate approves revisions to Facebook Law

The Missouri Senate today approved revisions to Jane Cunningham's Facebook Law. As I noted in a post last week, the changes fly in the face of what Gov. Jay Nixon asked for when he put the item on the legislative docket.

Nixon asked only for the repeal, not the revision of the law, which was widely reviled by Missouri teachers after the groups which supposedly know what the teachers are thinking, MNEA and MSTA, made no effort to stop the social networking part of the bill before it passed the Senate and House and was signed into law by the governor.

The changes require school boards to implement a policy regarding teacher-student communications by March 1. Again, there was no reason for this. If, as Mrs. Cunningham says, the main portion of the bill was the elimination of "passing the trath" or allowing teachers who have been accused of wrongdoing to move from one school to another, then her goal was achieved.

This simply kicks it to the local school boards, and most of them rely on the Missouri School Boards Association to write their policies. In the long run, this could end up causing just as much of a problem as Mrs. Cunningham's Facebook section. The bill is headed for the House. The following news release was issued by the Missouri Senate:

To further address legislation passed by the General Assembly during the 2011 regular session designed to maintain a safe learning environment in school districts throughout the state, the Missouri Senate gave its first-round approval to Senate Bill 1, a measure sponsored by Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Cunningham. Her legislation makes changes to a new provision in state law that requires each school district to promulgate a written policy on teacher-student and employee-student communication by Jan. 1, 2012. The specific section in the bill places restrictions on teachers’ use of work- and nonwork-related Internet sites, including Facebook.

Senate Bill 1, which received overwhelming approval in the Senate on Monday (9-12), pushes back the date for each school district to implement a written policy concerning employee-student communication, including the use of electronic media and other mechanisms to prevent improper communications between school district staff members and students, to March 1, 2012.

Also, SB 1 repeals the provision that prohibits teachers from creating and using a work-related Internet site unless it is available to school administrators and the child’s parent or guardian. In addition, it allows teachers to establish and maintain a work- and non-work related Internet site to have exclusive access with a current or former student.

Senate Bill 1 must receive a final passing vote in the Senate before moving on to the House of Representatives for similar consideration.

The Senate also assigned several House measures to their respective Senate committees for further review:
•HB 1 – Allows the City of St. Louis to establish and maintain a municipal police force completely under the city’s authority. (Financial & Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee)
•HB 2 – Changes the laws regarding the collection of moneys owed to the state. (Ways and Means and Fiscal Oversight)
•HB 3 – Moves the presidential primary from February to March and raises the amount presidential candidates pay state committees. (Financial & Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee)
•HB 5 – Changes the laws regarding the assessment of commercial real property destroyed by a natural disaster and authorizes tax increment financing in certain areas affected by a natural disaster. (Ways and Means and Fiscal Oversight)

For more information about the Missouri Senate and the First Extraordinary Session of the 96th General Assembly, including a list of Senate and House bills and daily action on special session legislation, visit www.senate.mo.gov. To contact the Senate Newsroom, call (573) 751-3824 or email newsroom@senate.mo.gov.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I serve on our district's BOE policy committee, and can tell you that the MSBA's policy service will likely recommend a policy that teachers should be bound and gagged. We nearly always do a rewrite on the recommended policies based on our own opinion and advice of district counsel, but many districts follow MSBA verbatim.

Anonymous said...

The governor doesn't get to redraft the law. So if the Senate or House doesn't change the law, then the present law stays as it is.

If the Senate and House kicks it to the local school boards to decide what level of private Internet communication is allowable and Jay Nixon refuses to sign this bill, then the General Assembly should simply leave the law as it currently stands and impeach any state judge that thinks he gets to legislate from the bench.

I predict that eventually almost all of the school boards will implement a policy that there is to be no private Internet communication after hours between their employees and minor school children. As Anon 8:20 pm pointed out these school boards will choose to err on the side of safety from litigation for themselves and their districts.

Who should get to decide the conditions of electronic contact with their children? Parents or school teachers wanting for whatever reason this unauthorized contact?

The correct answer is parents.

Therefore certain provisions of this law will be reintroduced and carried out under penalty of termination by school boards.