Brown said he pulled his daughter, then a sophomore, out of the school and she’s now being homeschooled. BY MICHELLE L. PRICE | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ADVERTISING PHOENIX — A teacher’s role may be to expand a student’s vocabulary, but
BY MICHELLE L. PRICE | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX — A teacher’s role may be to expand a student’s vocabulary, but one Arizona lawmaker wants to make sure that doesn’t include four-letter words.
A state legislator has introduced a bill that would punish public school teachers if they use words that violate the obscenity and profanity guidelines set forth by the Federal Communications Commission.
State Sen. Lori Klein introduced the measure because a parent in her district complained about a high school teacher using foul language.
The words were “totally inappropriate,” and teachers that don’t keep their language clean aren’t setting a good example for students, she said.
“You’re there to be educated,” Klein said. “You’re not there to talk smack.”
Critics say the bill is unnecessary and any discipline needed should be handled by schools and districts, not the Legislature.
Klein, a Republican from Anthem, made national headlines last fall when she pointed her gun at a reporter while demonstrating the weapon’s laser sight during an interview.
Klein’s proposal may be constitutional, but “not necessarily wise,” said James Weinstein, a Constitutional Law professor at Arizona State University
Weinstein said the FCC has made exceptions for offensive language based on context, and that could make things complicated.
“FCC standards aren’t exactly black and white,” said Anjali Abraham, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union.
A spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislators said the organization is not aware of any other state with a law similar to the Arizona proposal.
If the bill becomes law, a teacher whose speech or conduct violates FCC regulations would receive a warning, and after three incidents, the teacher would face a week of suspension without pay. A teacher would be fired after the fifth offense.
The proposal applies to K-12 teachers, and is limited to speech in a classroom setting.
Klein told the Senate committee Wednesday that she wished the issue could be left to school boards, but she didn’t feel they were protecting “young, impressionable kids” from offensive language.
Floyd Brown, the parent in Anthem who complained to Klein, knows better than most what kind of impression words can make.
Brown is a longtime Republican strategist who produced the infamous “Willie Horton” ad during the 1998 presidential campaign, which tied Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis to the release of a convicted murderer serving a life sentence.
Last year, Brown’s daughter Olivia came home from high school upset that a teacher was using the F-word in class. Brown brought the issue to school administrators, but they didn’t take him seriously, he said.
Brown said he pulled his daughter, then a sophomore, out of the school and she’s now being homeschooled.
