Brainless School Officials

My fellow blogger Badtux the Snarky Penguin tells us that school officials are like zombies -- brainless. The more I read and hear about schools nowdays, the more I think he is absolutely right. If school officials have brains, some of them are certainly not in the habit of using them.

Many of us thought the issue of student first amendment rights had been settled back in the sixties with the case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. The case involved three high school students who decided to wear black armbands to school in opposition to the Vietnam War. The school board heard about their plan and banned the wearing of armbands.

The students sued and on February 4, 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the students. Justice Fortas wrote, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights...at the schoolhouse gate." One would have thought that settled the matter of student first amendment rights, but school officials can be hard-headed (brainless).

But just last year, the Holmes County School District decided to ban all rainbows and anything else that could be construed as supporting gay and lesbian rights. The school said the symbols were "likely to be disruptive"and were indicative that students were part of a "secret/illegal organization".

That was ridiculous of course. The only thing on display was the brainless and homophobic overreaction of school officials in their rush to deny student rights. A student, Heather Gillman (pictured above), went to court and student first amendment rights were again upheld in Gillman v. Holmes County School District.

Now we have another incident that has popped up in Wesson, Mississippi. It seems that a young lady named Ceara Sturgis has been told by school officials that her photo would not be allowed inclusion in the school's yearbook. And what crime did she commit that would bar her picture from the yearbook? She had her picture taken in a tuxedo rather than the traditional drape worn by other girls.

Once again, it looks like school officials are having a homophobic overreaction to a student's free expression. Why can't school officials just realize that the law forbids them from using their homophobia (or religion) to deny a student's first amendment right to free speech and expression? Why is that such a hard concept for school officials to understand?

Maybe my blogger friend is right. Maybe school officials are brainless. Maybe there's some kind of test that a person must fail before they are allowed to become a school administrator (or school board member).