FCPS school board censorship: Definitely illegal and incredibly stupid, part 2 | Opinion
If you were wondering what Fayette County school officials had learned from their summer from hell, where they were excoriated daily for their ineptitude, lack of transparency, and arrogance, well, wonder no more.
Not. One. Thing.
We know this thanks to the agenda for Monday night’s school board agenda, where a proposed new policy reads as follows:
“Board members who voted in the minority on a matter, yet where the motion was approved by majority vote, shall not use subsequent media inquiries as a forum to reiterate or revive their dissenting position. The appropriate time for expressing opposing views is during board discussion while the motion is under consideration. Once a vote is taken and a decision is made, board members are expected to respect and support the collective decision of the board. In such instances, if contacted by the media, individual board members should issue no comment and direct inquiries to the board chair.”
So, as is clearly explained, the board majority clearly thinks everything would be fine if they could just get those pesky kids to shut up. The pesky kids being, in this case, Amanda Ferguson and Monica Mundy, who have clearly and forcefully asked the hard questions about the district’s finances and other assorted problems.
A comment from the district assured us this is a school board proposal. It was not the idea of district officials, if that gives you any comfort.
But there’s not much comfort to be had, because this latest debacle shows that board chair Tyler Murphy and company have not understood their assignment one little bit. Just like the secretive payroll tax proposal, this one is undemocratic stupidity that is most definitely illegal. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s well-known First Amendment Attorney Michael Abate, who told Valarie Honeycutt Spears his opinion of the matter:
“That is both an absurd policy and one that violates the First Amendment,” Abate said. “These board members are elected representatives of the people and they tell the district what to do, not the other way around.
“If a board member disagrees with something their colleagues adopted, they still have the right to express their disagreement, and they have the constitutional right to speak to anybody they want to do about it, including the media,” he said. “Any policy that would purport to limit that is void and unenforceable and, frankly, anti-democratic.”
A final vote on this measure won’t come until Dec. 8, unless, of course, Murphy comes to his senses and takes it off the agenda.
After all, don’t they have enough problems to deal with? You know, with an ongoing state audit, a General Assembly just itching to blast them, a public that’s getting even more heated over the programs being cut because the finances were so hinky to begin with.
And FCPS is stupidly plowing ahead with an eminent domain case against neighbors who would rather not lose their back yards to a driveway that could easily be moved across the field. Eminent domain cases are super popular with the public — that’s why governments use them so often.
Kidding! They are the most unpopular thing a local government can do, which I guess is why they happen so very rarely.
Because the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, except for right into their feet, is at it again.
