“This should have ended where it started – with one middle school teacher’s poor decision to display a sex-education poster in the Shawnee Mission district being dealt with locally.
“Instead, that incident inspired Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, to seek a state law treating teachers like pornography pushers.
“Senate Bill 56, under which teachers could be charged for violation of a class B nonperson misdemeanor, need not lead to one actual prosecution to do damage. Its passage would have a chilling effect, with teachers self-censoring their choices of literature, artworks and scientific concepts to study in class on the chance someone might take offense, judge the material at odds with “contemporary community standards” or lacking literary or educational merit – and find a sympathetic ear in the district attorney’s office.
“If Kansas students are to emerge from K-12 classrooms as critical thinkers ready for college or careers, they need educators who are trusted and free to teach. It’s time Statehouse leaders stopped their assault on teachers’ bargaining and other employment rights, and professionalism in general.”
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/opinion/editorials/article11170253.html