Students' Voices

From the start, this post is not intended to address (either pro or con) the motivations nor the substance behind the recent student led "March for Our Lives". This post is NOT about defending any perspective on gun rights, gun control, the Second Amendment, etc. You'll need to go elsewhere to find and discuss those topics.

This post is about students and the rightful place for the expression of their voice. As a passionate Social Studies educator (history, geography, political science, economics, psychology, sociology, etc.), one of my primary goals is for students to think about, explore, discuss/debate, and compare the sundry aspects of human interaction across time and space. Further, I want my students to take those lessons and apply them to their personal lives and the collective lives of society for the purpose of making the world a better place. Do I proscribe for them a specific path or set of ideas that will create the perfect world? NO! The "whys" are for them to decide as are the "hows" they choose to use.

In December of 1965, Mary Beth Tinker, her brother John, and a small group of their friends chose to shift their ideas regarding the Vietnam War from conversation to action. They all wore black arm bands to their schools in Des Moines, Iowa, as a protest against the war. (Again, this post is neither pro or con regarding the merits of the arm band protest nor the war in Vietnam.) The students were coerced into removing their arm bands in the face of disciplinary action from the school district. The students' families believed that their students' First Amendment rights were being unnecessarily violated. Following years of decisions and appeals, the Tinker v. Des Moines case landed before the U.S. Supreme Court. In their landmark 1969 decision, the Court ruled 7 to 2 that the students' rights were indeed violated.

The Court did not rule that any/all protests by students at school were automatically protected by the First Amendment. The Court, reasonably, recognized that there would plausibly be protests which could unnecessarily disrupt the educational mission of a school and/or hinder other students from their rights in obtaining an education. While there are limits surrounding students protesting in the educational setting, those peaceful protests which do not overtly disrupt the educational process are protected.

For more information on the Tinker case, click here OR click here.

Questions surrounding student led protests within the educational context have come back to the forefront in the aftermath of the shooting which occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. In the shooting, 17 students and staff members from the high school lost their lives. Within the immediate aftermath of the shooting, some students from Stoneman Douglas gained notoriety by their appearances within national media. Their efforts inspired a student based movement seeking new legislation to prohibit specific types of weapons. The movement called for a 17-minute student walkout from class at 10:00 AM on March 14th as a peaceful protest against gun violence and as a demonstration in memory of the 17 individuals who lost their lives one month prior.

Again, without focusing on the merits of gun rights, gun control, or the Second Amendment, the question many schools began grappling with was whether or not prohibiting a protest/demonstration in the form of a walkout from class would violate the Constitution in light of Tinker and subsequent Court decisions on student protests. Many school administrators found ways of partnering with student leaders of a walkout at their local school to allow the walkout in a way that limited disruption to the educational day beyond the 17-minutes and in a context that provided as much safety as possible to students participating in the walkout (and/or any counter protests led by students with differing ideologies). Other schools have opted to try and punish their local students for participating in the walkout. It may very well be the beginning of another Court case to clarify when disruptions to the school day are considered acceptable or not. To what extent does a 17-minute walkout truly impact a school-year's worth of education? If a 17-minute walkout is unreasonable to the Court, what about a 45-minute student led pep rally??

I attended the March 14th walkout at one of the junior high schools with which I work. I wasn't there to spy and report on any nefarious intent from either the student protestors nor the local administration. I had already learned that the students who were leading the movement at this school were working with the local principal to provide the most meaningful 17-minutes possible. The focus of the walkout was remembering the 17 individuals who had lost their lives. There was nothing inflammatory presented. I was proud of the way all participating students expressed themselves.

Over the course of this weekend, my heart was stirred to see the images of students across this country collectively voicing their concerns on issues of which they are passionate--again, I'm neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the nature of the March for Our Lives. When you look at the statistics of voting and other forms of civic engagement, the participation rates of those aged 25 and below are dreadfully low even amidst a decades worth of efforts to get this demographic more engaged. I hope that today's students, regardless of their ideological bend, are inspired to think critically about a wide range of important issues and to act within the appropriate ways so as to bring meaningful change to the societies in which they live--especially to exercise their right to vote!

Most schools have as part of their mission statement or guiding philosophy the idea of helping to create civically engaged life-long learners. With such a statement of purpose, it would be highly hypocritical of an educational institution to teach about constitutional rights in their historical and political settings (as is required by the teaching standards of most, if not all, states) and then turn around and seek to deny students, as vigorously as possible, the ability to exercise those very rights. What better place than a school exists to equip students with an understanding of the intricacies surrounding their constitutional rights coupled with the appropriate ways to exercise those rights in the public forum? Teaching students how to develop their ideas into a sound argument and how to effectively champion their ideas so that they can become civically engaged life-long learners is the ultimate purpose of education. When students exercise their voice I get excited.





These Boots are Made for Walkin'

In a press conference this afternoon, the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) put the Oklahoma State Legislature on notice for a potential educator walk-out and/or series of schools & districts closing. OEA stated that the walk-out would begin on April 2nd unless the Legislature approves, by April 1st (Easter Sunday), a budget that would include a $10,000 pay raise for Oklahoma's teachers, a $5,000 pay raise for educational support staff, and an appropriation increase of $200 million for school funding to replace the draconian cuts which have occurred over the last eight years.

Oklahoma's average teacher pay is currently 50th out of 51 (states + DC). Hoards of teachers have already flocked to surrounding states, some of whom have increased their salaries by $20,000 per year for a move less than a three hour drive from my home in north Oklahoma City.

I've never been a fan of OEA. Shady behaviors it has conducted and some of the policies it has championed, along with the same for its parent organization (NEA) and its local affiliate within my school district have impacted my thoughts on OEA (those are stories for another time). My views on OEA, however, have not led me to be "anti-union". As a Social Studies educator, I very much understand the importance of unions within historical, economic, political, and geographic contexts. I fully understand that many of the gains and protections that are found across most labor industries or workforces are the result of difficult decisions, committed collaborative actions, and a quest for justice on the part of organized labor. As such, I respect OEA's leadership in today's press conference.

Oklahoma's teachers have not had a raise in ten years. Retirement and health insurance are not fully covered in many districts. Per pupil expenditures have decreased each year for nearly a decade...when allocated funds do not remain consistent with population increases then even in a year in which allocations are 100% equal to the year before we end up with the effect of a significant cut. Lottery funds no longer serve to extend or enhance legislative allocations. The lottery now, by default, serves to supplant those funds. Vital well-rounded educational services and opportunities for students have been cut. Teaching, administrative, and support staff positions have been eliminated. As teachers leave the state to teach elsewhere or transition into other careers, the pool of qualified teachers to replace them (if there are funds to fill the vacancies) shrinks to the point of having underqualified persons serving in the classroom. The shortage of quality teachers is real and has a profoundly negative impact on the quality of education in many classrooms. Cut, cut, cut...and yet the student population count continues to rise. Severely over crowded classrooms are the result. Imagine trying to conduct some form of chemistry experiment with thirty-five students in a science lab room where the fire code only authorizes twenty. Safety concerns further complicate the attempts to provide a meaningful educational experience in such an environment.

One of the aspects of the news conference that I truly appreciated OEA showcasing was the concerns of the association of state employees. Their salaries and working conditions also need to be addressed. The vital public services that they provide often have a direct impact on our needs within education. Our students need access to quality physical and mental health services...yet those budgets have been cut. Our students need access to appropriate roads and bridges to safely travel to and from school...yet those budgets have been cut. Our students need the protections offered from programs from the Department of Human Services and the Department of Corrections...yet those budgets have been cut. While we as teachers may be more vocal about our pressing needs, we also fully understand the larger picture. 

And the larger picture is the Legislature's collective refusal to appropriately fully fund core services for the people of the state and this includes core services that are required by our state constitution. While was say "the time is now" we all know that the appropriate time has long since passed. The time was years ago. The time was to have never allowed this circumstance to occur in the first place.


So now we are at a time when we must act. WE MUST ACT. Do teachers want to walk out or have their schools close indefinitely? NO! But to gain what it takes to fully educate the children of our state--the very reason why we do what we do--we will commit to walk if necessary. We understand that closing school will cause hardships. And while many are already working together to help mitigate those hardships on students who without school food programs wouldn't eat, we also understand that sometimes results only happen when the hardships serve to squeeze the hands of those who have the power to provide the necessary results. We will squeeze the necessary hands. We will be the voice that our students need. We will be the boots on the ground at the Capitol because...

These boots are made for walkin'
And that's just what they'll do
Take a stand by April 1st

Or these boots will walk all over you.