Minnesota School Sued After Administrator Claims "Right to Censor" Student Speech

Student was prohibited from handing out pro-life material on her own time, even though teachers often encourage activism

A Minnesota school is facing a federal lawsuit after one of its officials made the claim that the school has the right to "censor" students' speech without violating their free-speech rights.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed the lawsuit after the director of the Nova Classical Academy stated that "public schools have every right to prohibit student speech." That statement came after an incident in February when a sixth-grade student and her friends were told they could no longer hand out leaflets reading "Save the baby humans. Stop abortion" – even if their fellow students requested them.

Comments

[Aresen]

Looks like it's a charter school (call it semi-private).

I'd have to say that makes it their school, their rules.

[Adam330]

Charter schools are public schools. They are almost entirely funded with taxpayer funds, with donations making up the difference. They don't charge tuition. They receive their charters from cities and states. They are in no way private.

[grylliade]

To some degree, yes. If you read the full article, though, they claim control over speech on, say, the sidewalk outside of the school even after school hours. It's kinda creepy.

This makes me sad. This was the place where I wanted to send my kids, if they could get in -- it's a lottery system. Their educational philosophy is brilliant. But if the administrators have this kind of attitude . . .