Rules Committee to discuss HB 1307 soon in Washington state

J-Ideas staff

The Rules Committee of the Washington state House of Representatives is expected to vote shortly on a measure that would guarantee freedom of speech for the state’s high school and college students.

If the Rules Committee moves the bill, it will be introduced to the House floor for discussion and a vote. The Committee has until February 28 to decide whether or not to take action.

State Rep. Dave Upthegrove, the principal sponsor of HB 1307, told supporters Tuesday that he is “cautiously optimistic” the bill will clear the 24-member committee and move on to the full House.

The Judiciary Committee passed the measure by a 7-4 vote on January 31. The vote was along party lines, with seven Democrats in favor and four Republicans opposed.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get any Republicans,” said Brian Schraum, the Washington State University student who initiated the legislation with Upthegrove, D-Des Moines. “But the bill did pass (Judiciary) committee. We have a long way to go.”

If passed in the House, the bill would go to the state’s Senate, then on to Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Upthegrove, although excited about the Judiciary decision, expressed some disappointment in the party-line vote. “This makes no sense. I don't understand why free speech would be a partisan issue,” Upthegrove said. “The Republican attorney general (Rob McKenna) supports the bill, and many conservative and Republican organizations around the country have supported similar bills.”

Those Republicans in the Judiciary Committee failed in an 11th hour attempt to exclude high school journalists from the measure, according to Schraum, who has been closely monitoring the bill.

The House Rules Committee is made up of 15 Democrats with nine Republicans.

There was reaction nationwide to the Judiciary Committee passage.

“This is renewed hope. We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the student press,” said Cheryl Pell, senior faculty specialist at Michigan State University and executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. “You can't control free speech. Journalism is a wonderful way for students to not only report about the happenings in their school and community, but actively participate in the democratic process. Journalism is also important because it teaches social responsibility.” Pell is part of a Michigan committee that hopes to introduce a similar bill in that state this year. She was involved in two unsuccessful attempts there in the last 10 years.

Another educator, Randy Swikle, of Johnsburg, Ill., said HB1307 “would be a catalyst for schools to teach the First Amendment via application rather than simply to preach it as distant theory.”

He added, “Knowing and responsibly practicing First Amendment freedoms in schools will diminish apathy, enhance civic education and build good citizenship. This bill will reinforce restrictions for both students and school officials and hold both accountable for supporting the democratic principles of our society.”

Swikle, a former Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year, also was involved in an unsuccessful attempt in the 1990s to write new state law in Illinois that would give students enhanced press rights.
Carol Knopes, the Director of Education Projects at the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, also supports the bill.

"We are very pleased with this step that the state of Washington has taken...this is a great step in building better citizens because it gives young people the right to use the First Amendment," Knopes said.

Things have moved quickly with HB 1307. The bill was introduced on Jan. 16 and went before a public hearing Jan. 26. Nineteen state representatives signed on to co-sponsor Upthegrove’s bill, which would be the first to provide free press protection to both high school and college student journalists in one state law.

Six other states – California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Massachusetts – have laws ensuring freedom of speech for high school students. This represents the second attempt in Washington state. In 1992, a student press rights bill (HB 2064) was introduced in the Washington House, but never left the Rules Committee.

As predicted before the Jan. 31 vote, students and teachers supported the bill, and came out in great numbers. Although fewer in number at the hearing, principal and administrator groups, including the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP), the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) and the Washington Secondary School Directors Association (WSSDA) voiced opposition.

Said Dan Steele of WSSDA, “HB 1307 would expand those (student First Amendment) rights beyond what is reasonable because student media is school-sponsored media--paid for with public dollars--and administrations have an obligation to ensure that improper actions are not taken in the use of student media.”

Countered Ken Bunting, the associate publisher of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Learning is enhanced when free expression and robust exchange of ideas are encouraged, not stifled.

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