Freedom demands responsible behavior, individual restraint and honorable character from the citizens it serves so that society can fully enjoy the benefits. However, if one exalts self-centeredness and the desire for unrestrained, unaccountable behavior above these values, the emphasis wrongly shifts from personal re-spon-sibility to a selfish pursuit of "my rights." Yet, that is the essence of Lily Eskelsen and the UEA's "rights" in opposition to SB246 titled Prohibiting Schools from Supporting Illegal Conduct. The issue is whether a teacher's supposed "right" to promote illegal conduct takes precedence over the health, safety, welfare or morals of schoolchildren, or the effective operation of schools.
SB246 presupposes that teaching is more than a mere "job" of dispensing information. By state statute, teachers are required to teach the attributes of "honesty, temperance, morality, obedience to law . . . respect for parents and home . . . and other skills, habits and qualities of character that will promote an upright and desirable citizenry and prepare students for a richer, happier, life."SB246 provides that "they may not, in their official capacities, encourage, condone or support engaging in illegal conduct." The bill provides further that, "In order to ensure the effective performance of school personnel, the limitations (against encouraging, condoning, or supporting illegal conduct) also apply to a school employee or volunteer acting in a private capacity, if (and only if) that person knew or reasonably should have known that the action would undermine the health, safety, welfare or morals of schoolchildren or the confidence of the public in the operation of schools; and that action results in a material or substantial interference or disruption in the normal activities of the school."
SB246 does not single out homosexuality as many have mistakenly supposed. It does not legislate against status. It targets the promotion of any illegal conduct under certain circumstances. The bill takes its standard directly from U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. 10th Circuit Court.
By administrative rule, the State Office of Education requires teachers not only to teach the values listed above but also to fulfill this requirement by "example" and "role modeling." When a teacher accepts his or her teaching certificate, that teacher commits to uphold and support the law and to be an example and role model of civic virtue for children. SB246 clarifies that this duty extends beyond the classroom.
In keeping with my commitment to education, SB246 will protect children, schools and the reputations of many hundreds of good teachers who are effective role models, from a few bad apples.
Contrary to Lily Eskelsen's misguided perceptions, SB246 will have no "chilling" impact on 99 percent of the teachers. It does not prevent them from talking about the social issues of our day. It merely prohibits them from promoting illegal conduct in the classroom and outside the classroom if that conduct undermines the health, safety, welfare or morals of schoolchildren or the confidence of the public in the operation of schools, and if that action actually results in a material or substantial interference or disruption in the normal activities of the school.
Furthermore, even if social change may arguably be desirable in some instances, it is neither the prerogative nor right of public school teachers to be promoting such change, whether inside or outside the classroom, if it involves presently illegal conduct. The teacher's job is to teach obedience to law and to be a role model of that value. Present constitutional law recognizes this in limiting teachers' First Amendment rights of expression, especially when a teacher's speech or activity would be harmful to children or destructive to the normal operation of schools.
We have in Utah a state-sponsored program of compulsory education. But our children do not belong to teachers, school or state. They are our children. We have the right to expect that those who teach our children truly do serve as examples and role models, both inside and outside the classroom. As the Utah Parent Teacher Association stated in its letter endorsing SB246, the bill "reinforces the commitment to maintain a moral, ethical and legal environment in our schools." Besides the PTA, the School Boards Association, State School Superintendent's Association, State Board of Education, and state school superintendent support SB246.