October 20, 2008
NYC teachers can't wear Obama buttons
A federal judge has ruled that New York City public school teachers cannot wear political campaign buttons at work, but he did allow them to hang political literature on union bulletin boards as long as they are not visible to students.
Meanwhile, the city Police Department has reminded cops that they can't put political bumper stickers on city vehicles or posters on department property.
The court decision came a week after the American Federation of Teachers, which has endorsed Barack Obama, sued the Board of Education over its ban on teachers wearing campaign buttons in the classroom.
The Times reports:
There have been conflicting court rulings over how far the government can go in regulating what teachers say in the classroom ever since the Supreme Court's Tinker case, four decades ago, which proclaimed that neither teachers nor students "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." UFT President Randi Weingarten says the union may appeal the campaign button decision after election day. She said she is pleased the judge ruled teachers can hang posters on union bulletin boards and put political fliers in teachers mailboxes at public schools.
For background on the campaign button lawsuit and a description of the policy for New York state employees, see here.
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