TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate voted Tuesday to crack down on protests in public schools, requiring students to get parental permission to participate and imposing penalties on school districts that conspire to organize protests or use mild discipline against student violators.
Republican Sen. Michael Murphy of Sylvia assured senators that the new ban on students leaving school buildings during school hours to participate in protests or rallies would not violate the fundamental rights of assembly and expression enshrined in the Constitution.
The amendment would impose financial sanctions (potentially in excess of $100,000 per day) on districts if school personnel are found to have encouraged, assisted, or facilitated student strikes. Additionally, to meet annual academic requirements, “each school day in which a school district experiences a student strike, etc., shall not be counted as an instructional day.”
“The bottom line is, we know we have the right to protest, the right to express our opinions,” Murphy said. “But when we get to high school, we’re there to learn.”
In his speech on the Senate floor, Murphy did not specify which protests he intended to thwart or provide examples of strikes that crossed the line into inappropriate behavior. He did mention both peaceful and violent protests against the Vietnam War.
The Senate passed the amendment with a vote of 21 to 18, with a majority composed entirely of Republican senators. Opposition includes nine Republicans and nine Democrats. The amendment must be accepted by the Kansas House of Representatives before it can be enacted.
Students in Kansas and other states have protested in recent months against an ongoing federal immigration crackdown. Much of the criticism has focused on the lethal tactics relied upon by federal agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s orders.
Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, said she was concerned — and Murphy told her not to be — that the budget provisions would conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. This landmark 1969 decision recognized the First Amendment rights of America’s public school students. It has been used to determine whether a school’s interest in preventing disruption outweighs students’ constitutional rights.
“I do worry that if Tinker v. Des Moines doesn’t put us at risk, then other cases involving civil liberties will,” Holscher said. “While we may not like certain remarks… it’s part of the process.”
Sen. Beverly Gorsuch (R-Eudora) pushed back against the idea that the Murphy amendment could undermine fundamental rights under the First Amendment. She advised students to exercise their rights of speech and assembly “outside of class.”
“This is not a free speech issue. You have a right to speech, you have a right to assemble — not during school hours,” Gorsuch said. “School ends early. No matter what they’re protesting, you have plenty of time after school to do something like this.”
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said the amendment does not take into account 18-year-old high school students who have legal authority to withdraw. She said the amendment did not accurately define truancy.
“This is what the majority party calls ‘my free speech,’ not ‘your free speech,'” Sykes said.
Orp Sen. Mike Agabright, one of the Senate Republicans who voted against the amendment, said he was concerned that the restriction specifically targeted public school students and school districts.
He said the amendment appears to be an example of legislating based on a handful of incidents and does not require statewide intervention.
Under an amendment to Senate Bill 315, Murphy would put the Kansas State Board of Education in charge of handling all disputes over reports of students, teachers or administrators striking or protesting misconduct.
His amendment would focus on students who are absent from class or leave the school building without written parental consent. Fines are levied against school districts whenever administrators fail to “enforce attendance laws and policies related to the discipline of absent students.” It also imposes sanctions on school districts whenever it is proven that school staff encouraged strikes.
The amendment defines a student strike as “an organized and deliberate violation of school attendance requirements by students.”
The amendment would prohibit strike days from counting toward a district’s total instructional hours required by the state during the school year.
In addition, offending districts will face fines equal to the superintendent’s annual base salary “for each school day in which a student strike occurs in the district.” Fines will be paid to the state treasury.
In Kansas, supervisors typically earn between $118,000 and $146,000 per year, but some earn more than $200,000.
