"Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-108, to read:
15-108. Public classrooms; compliance with federal standards for media broadcasts concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity; violations; definition
A. If a person who provides classroom instruction in a public school engages in speech or conduct that would violate the standards adopted by the federal communications commission concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity if that speech or conduct were broadcast on television or radio:
1. For the first occurrence, the school shall suspend the person, at a minimum, for one week of employment, and the person shall not receive any compensation for the duration of the suspension. This paragraph does not prohibit a school after the first occurrence from suspending the person for a longer duration or terminating the employment of that person.
2. For the second occurrence, the school shall suspend the person, at a minimum, for two weeks of employment, and the person shall not receive any compensation for the duration of the suspension. This paragraph does not prohibit a school after the second occurrence from suspending the person for a longer duration or terminating the employment of that person.
3. For the third occurrence, the school shall terminate the employment of the person. This paragraph does not prohibit a school after the first or second occurrence from terminating the employment of that person.
B. For the purposes of this section, "public school" means a public preschool program, a public elementary school, a public junior high school, a public middle school, a public high school, a public vocational education program, a public community college or a public university in this state. "Got that? Anytime a teacher says or does anything, not limited to school time, that does not pass muster with the FCC's broadcast standards, they can be disciplined. Can't call the legislature a bunch of fucking morons without risking a week's suspension. Literature teachers will end up having to get rid of a lot of classics (including most Shakespeare if anyone ever figures out the dirty jokes). Biology teaches would have to tiptoe around biological functions (excretory references are scatological according to the FCC). But its even worse than that. One of my facebook friends pointed out that under this legislation, teachers are technically barred from having sex since that cannot be broadcast on television!
Now I know everyone will say that's not what they are targeting, but why write it this way then? If you have ever been in a school, you know there are students who will bait teachers to try and get them to say or do inappropriate things (and if you don't believe this, you have just lost the right to call anyone else naive...ever!) When I was teaching, I was in a local production of Cabaret (an extremely well reviewed award winning production at that) and I am pretty sure there were multiple scenes that would have gotten me in trouble under this law if I was teaching at a public school!
And I am pretty sure the ACLU will have a field day with this gross attempt to regulate teacher speech outside school and rightly so! The Arizona legislature, what a bunch of fucktards! (I am not a teacher right now so I can say that!)
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8 comments:
Living to a higher standard than the freedoms allowed to the rest of the population, well, sucks. Um.... can I say sucks?
I think it is F'uped. I can say that as I'm not a teacher.
I do know that any interaction with police or the courts has to be reported to administration in many districts.
If you think about it, there are so many things that could happen in someone's life that really aren't the business of an employer and should have no impact on one's ability to do a professional job.... speeding ticket, a fight between someone and their spouse, break in at your residence, foreclosure, inheritance or probate, problems your kids may get into, etc., to name a few.
#1 reason I am not me on facebook or the JTI. (not that any of the above pertain to me)
There are definitely things teachers should be held to...like not committing sex crimes, especially with minors. An occasional minor traffic ticket shouldn't be a problem, however. Even the best driver can screw up every once in a while. There are some legitimate regulations that can be applied, but this statute applies to pretty much any legal contact that you can't broadcast on television and does not apply only at work...way over the line.
I taught and I know about bat-shit crazy parents. I even had one parent who thought the school should forbid me to do something that most people would find totally wholesome and could be broadcast on network television: riding my bike to school (and I even set a good example by wearing a helmet!) Yes, they wanted me to stop riding my bike to work or get fired. Fortunately, the administration was, well, sane, but they did tell me about it in case the parent confronted me in person. This particular parent had, shall we say, a reputation.
I also wrote letters to the editor of the local paper frequently on topics including evolution, global warming and gay rights. I didn't reference my school in any way. Parents still get in a tizzy. As I have to remind them, EVERYONE has a right to free speech, even teachers.
Oh, and the Arizona Legislature is dominated by Republicans with a heave Tea Party contingent always railing about the government taking away our rights. I guess we know they don't mean everyone's rights.
Does the FCC allow atheism? I bet some parents get worked up when they find that out, hale.
I'm just shaking my head. I've heard of some companies that forbid employees to smoke at any time, work or home. I don't believe that's legal.
This is what happens when the incompetent govern the competent. It's stupid and unconstitutional and a vast waste of time and money - and that's more or less the situation with all government today.
I pity anyone who goes into the teaching profession. If anything goes wrong in any child's life, it seems somehow the teacher's fault.
I wonder when it was decided that teachers were the gum on the bottom of shoe?
What a world we live in.
Boppster,
Is this saying you cannot use potty words OUTSIDE OF WORK?
I would lose my job fast because i do have a potty mouth.
I know in Japan there are companies you are not allow to use bad words while at work or you will get fire.
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