Document
NY State Senate Bill S6336 to Amend N Y State Education Law
From: jeanine.aaup@verizon.net
Date: January 10, 2006 6:50:20 PM EST
Subject: Help Stop Passage of NY State Senate Bill S6336 to Amend N
Y State Education Law
To: cooperst@adelphi.edu, weiss@bard.edu, eboyer@cazcollege.edu, jjacobs@mail.colgate.edu,
mhaines@colgate.edu, bbowen@pscmail.org, fine@chem.columbia.edu, VERNON@FORDHAM.EDU,
ejensen@hamilton.edu, sears@hartwick.edu, columbus@hwc.edu, musgrave@ithaca.edu,
kagan@lemoyne.edu, anthony.cutie@liu.edu, joseph.fahey@manhattan.edu,
gillianhannum@hotmail.com, robert.lewis@marist.edu, dlinton@mmm.edu,
tdzierba@medaille.edu, hcanaan@mercy.edu, cgray87021@aol.com, lmoylan@molloy.edu,
rita.dytell@mountsaintvincent.edu, andrew.ross@nyu.edu, pscherer@niagara.edu,
ekatz@nyit.edu, yroitber@nyit.edu, vitald@rpi.edu, tjpnvc@rit.edu,
tbgib@dbi.cc.rochester.edu, pgomori@stfranciscollege.edu, levenesf@stjohns.edu,
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colson@wells.edu, kosak@ymail.yu.edu, vssgsp@rit.edu, skotna@sage.edu,
jkoretz@nycap.rr.com, rboris@msn.com
Cc: rbowen@aaup.org, marksmith@aaup.org, jknight@aaup.org
Dear Colleague:
A few moments ago Cecelia McCall (Baruch College, Vice-President, PSC), sent an e-mail informing us she checked the Legislative Digest for this week: On January 9, 2006 Defrancisco et al (Golden, Johnson, Larkink Maltese, Meier, Morahan Padavan and Trunzo) introduced S6336 in the Senate Higher Education Committee. It is an act to amend the education law by by adding a new section 224-b creating an "academic" bill of rights.
Can you please alert your colleagues and chapters to protest this bill coming out of the Higher Education Committee? A stance against it is a non-partisan educational issue insofar as 1. Many republicans/conservatives, liberals are as much against government interference in the lives of our citizens be they students and/or faculty members as democrats and members of the working families party. 2. When it aint broke, dont fix it. 3. The Bill of Rights and its amendments also applies to Higher Education. Why this special delusional legislation?
My 2005 NYS Legislative Guide (the 2006 Guide is not yet published) lists the chair of this committee as: Kenneth P. LaValle, R/C/ District 1 Suffolk: lavalle@senate.state.ny.us
The sponsor of the bill, John A. DeFrancisco R District 50 (Deputy Majority Leader) jdefranc@senate.state.ny.us is not a member of the Higher Education Committee.
Reading through the list of Senate members and the committees on which they serve, other members of the Higher Education Committee appear to be (please do not hesitate to send corrections):
James S, Alesi R District 55: alesi@senate.state.ny.us
Michael A.L. Balboni R/C/I, District
7: balboni@senate.state.ny.us
John J. Flanagan R/C/L, District 2: Flanagan@senate.state.ny.us
Liz Kreuger (Democrate/Working Families), from my district (I am
going to call her) lkreuger@senate.state.ny.us
Serphin R. Maltese R/C District 15 (also Deputy Majority Whip):
maltese@senate.state.ny.us
Kevin Parker D/WF District 21: parker@senate.state.ny.us
Mary Lou Roth R/C District 61: rath@senate.state.ny.us
David J. Valesky D District 49: valesky@senate.state.ny.us
George H. Winner, Jr. R District
53: winner@senate.state.ny.us
Here are some excerpts from the bill:
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating an academic bill of rights
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 224-b to
read as follows: Academic bill of rights. A student enrolled in an institution
of higher education has the right to expect:
A learning environment in which the student has access to a broad
range of serious scholarly opinion pertaining to the subjects the student
studies in which, in the humanities, the social sciences and the arts, the
fostering of a plurality of serious scholarly methodologies and perspectives
has a significant institutional purpose; b. To be graded solely on the basis
of the student's reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects
the student studies and to not be discriminated against on the basis of
the student's political or religious beliefs; c. That the student's academic
freedom and the quality of education will not be infringed upon by instructors
who persistently introduce controversial matter into the classroom or coursework
that has no relation to the subject of study and that serves no legitimate
pedagogical purpose; d. That the freedom of speech, freedom of expression,
freedom of assembly and freedom of conscience of students and student organizations
are not infringed upon by administrators, student government organizations
or institutional policies, rules or procedures; and . That the student's
academic institution distributes student fee funds on a viewpoint-neutral
basis and maintains a posture of neutrality with respect to substantive
political and religious disagreements, differences and opinions.
1 2. A faculty member or instructor at an institution of higher education
has the right to expect: a. Academic freedom in the classroom in discussing
subjects while making the students aware of serious scholarly viewpoints
other than that of the faculty member or instructor and encouraging intellectual
honesty, civil debate and the critical analysis of ideas in the pursuit
of knowledge and truth; b. To be hired, fired, promoted, denied promotion,
granted tenure or denied tenure on the basis of competence and appropriate
knowledge in the field of expertise of the faculty member or instructor
and not on the basis of political or religious beliefs; and c. To not be
excluded from tenure, search and hiring committees on the basis of political
or religious beliefs. 3. An institution of higher education shall fully
inform students, faculty and instructors of the rights under this section
and of the institution's grievance procedures for violations of academic
freedom by notices prominently displayed in course catalogs or student handbooks
and on the institutional publicly accessible site on the Internet. 4. The
governing board of an institution of higher education shall develop institutional
guidelines and policies to protect the academic freedom and the rights of
students and faculty under this section and shall adopt a grievance procedure
by which a student or faculty member may seek redress of grievance for an
alleged violation of a right specified in this section. A governing board
under this subdivision shall
Publicize the grievance procedure developed pursuant to this subdivision
To the students and faculty on every campus that is under the control
27 and direction of the governing board.
The justification given is the following:
"Every institution of higher learning has a duty to promote intellectual diversity on campus. Too often, students find many college classes biased or one-sided. The ideas of all students and faculty members should be treated with respect, and all ideas deserve to be represented on campus.
Professors and administrators have an obligation to make students aware of a broad range of viewpoints and perspectives. They are not hired to teach only students who share their political or philosophical views, and professors should never force their own views upon their students. The classroom is not and should never be a soapbox for a professor to promote his or her point of view.
The Academic Bill of Rights has been introduced as legislation in a number of state legislatures, and a few states have already adopted a form of the Academic Bill of Rights. In one of the most recent examples, the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives -- in July 2005 -- passed a resolution supporting the principles of the Academic Bill of Rights."
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS REQUEST
Best,
Jeanine
Jeanine P. Plottel, Executive Director
AAUP New York State Conference
50 East 77th Street
New York NY 10021-1842
Note: the full text of the proposed new section 224-b creating an "academic" bill of rights is available by logging onto the NYState Assembly website (http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/) and enter the either bill numbers S6336 or A10098.
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