Civic and journalism educators nationwide have mobilized to show their support for adviser protection:

“Without adviser protection, many advisers will hesitate to encourage some legitimate topics for publication because they are concerned about their own jobs. The result will be a form of censorship. However, as unintentional as that may be, it stifles the kind of First Amendment climate that allows students to express themselves freely and in the process learn how to become the kind of involved citizens a strong democracy requires.”   

 -- Diana Hadley
Executive Director
Indiana High School Press Association

"Any bill without adviser protection will be a shadow of what it should be. In California, the primary method for censoring students is the removal of the adviser."

-- Steve O'Donoghue
Director
 California Scholastic Journalism Initiative

"Advisers clearly need support because they can often be in a no-win situation--wanting to support their students, but feeling pressure to keep their jobs. Bottom line, we have to help them be able to do what they know is right."

-- Candace Perkins Bowen
Professor
School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Kent State University

"One of the most common tactics school officials engage in today in attempting to censor student press is to threaten or remove an adviser because of what the students publish.  The only way student press freedom can truly be protected is if advisers know they will not be disciplined based on the projected content decisions their students make.  A provision protecting advisers has been in the books since 1992 in Kansas, and no one thinks it's a problem there.”

-- Mark Goodman
Executive Director
Student Press Law Center

“It would be too easy for a teacher to give in to an administrator and become that administrator's lapdog. We need strong journalism teachers who are not afraid of student expression, this would weaken the cause, not strengthen it.”

-- Cheryl Pell
Senior Faculty Specialist
Communication Arts & Sciences
Michigan State University

“The faculty adviser for a student newspaper is arguably the most vulnerable teacher in school regarding accountability. He is subordinate to the principal and expected to cooperate with that supervisor. But the adviser is also an advocate for student journalists and expected to protect their rights.

When an autocratic principal has an arbitrary attitude that collides with student press rights, the faculty adviser is caught in the middle. Always, the adviser must champion the law above his supervisor's demand for censorship if the law is on the students' side. To punish the adviser for prioritizing the law above a person (principal) should not put the adviser in jeopardy. By keeping HB 3279 intact, censorship issues may be resolved by using democratic strategies rather than the clout of authoritarian rule.

How can anyone justify the denial of protection for someone who advocates following the law?”

--Randy Swikle
Former Dow Jones Journalism Teacher of the Year

“As a publications adviser of student newspapers and yearbooks for 14 years, I believe it is essential that advisers have adequate protections. Let me be clear--I am an educator, not a censor. My students learn, practice, and master responsible journalism with my guidance and advice--they know their rights, but are also aware of the enormous responsibilities of their jobs.

The only way to ensure quality in student publications is to ensure that student journalists take complete ownership of their publications in choosing and developing story ideas, selecting content and coverage, and designing and producing their newspapers and yearbooks. … I am fortunate to teach in a school corporation and community with administrators and community members that respect my students' rights and work collaboratively to protect them and me. However, not all journalism teachers are as fortunate. I applaud the state of Oregon for ensuring that the First Amendment lives in all of their schools and communities across the state. I implore you to also ensure that your journalism teachers have equal protections as well. Trust me--your student journalists and their publications will be all the better for it.”

--Jim Lang
Publications Adviser
Floyd Central High School
Floyds Knobs, Indiana