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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

UPDATE: Can a teacher be disciplined/fired for teaching students their rights Daily Kos: you do not have right to vote in Presidential election

Daily Kos: Even if you vote, you do not have right to vote in Presidential election:

Even if you vote, you do not have right to vote in Presidential election

I wrote this as a comment to marktheshark's diary on the Ellison-Pocan proposed constitutional amendment on voting.  I thought I would also put it up separately
Even if you have the right to vote you do not under the US Constitution have the right to vote for electors of the President and Vice-President.  The state legislature gets to decide how those electors are awarded -  remember the bill in the works in Florida to award all of that state's electors to Bush in 2000?
Now, there is a provision of the 14th Amendment that has never been enforced, which reads
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 

Can a teacher be disciplined/fired for teaching students their rights?

I was a social studies teacher.
I taught government.
That meant teaching students about the Bill of Rights.
That includes the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.
So when I read High School Teacher Faces Discipline for Informing Students About Their Rights, you can probably imagine my reaction.
High school students were given a survey that had their names on them.
They were asked questions about drinking and drug use, both of which represent a violation of the law.
The teacher, John Dryden, pick up the survey ten minutes before his first class, had no time to consult with administrators and since he had just completed a unit of the Bill of Rights
he decided to tell his students that they did not have to complete the forms if doing so involved admitting illegal behavior. Tomorrow the school board will consider whether and how to punish Dryden for taking advantage of this teachable moment.
Now he faces discipline ranging from a letter of remedy being place in his file which could prevent his being hired by another district, and even the possibility of dismissal.There is one difference between Dryden and myself -  I would have told students they could not be required to answer the questionnaire even without checking with an administrator.  If you are going to entrust me with

I believe this is my 3000th diary

I did in 2006 delete two diaries.   I do not know if they are including in the count, and if so, I am premature.
If not, my taking a moment to recognize this event is not to brag, although I am proud of my participation here.
Rather it is to affirm what this site has given me and so many others -  a site at which we can share our thoughts and insights with others, build community, support others and accept support for ourselves.
3000th or 2998th -  in a sense it does not matter.
I am grateful.
I am honored to be a part of this community.
Thanks for welcoming me as part of this community over the past 9+ years.
Peace.