Teachers Awarded Injunction to Halt Facebook Law

The Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) just learned it was awarded an injunction to stop a new Missouri social networking law from taking effect Sunday.

"We just found out about two minutes ago. We're wrapping our heads around it, but this is a good resolution at this point," said Todd Fuller, MSTA director of communications.

MSTA is suing the state over a new Missouri social network law that prevents students and teachers from having conversations that cannot be accessed by school administrators and parents. This also means they cannot be friends on Facebook.

Senate Bill 54, also known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, is sponsored by former Ladue school board member and Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, and designed to protect students.

A main thrust of the bill was the need to make the law more clear about a school district's responsibilities when dealing with teachers accused of sexual misconduct. MSTA opposes the section of the bill that teachers feel will inhibit their ability to communicate with students through social media sites such as Facebook and through text messaging, since it is now a common method of communication.

MSTA filed the lawsuit Aug. 19 and named Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster as the defendants.

The law was set to take effect Sunday, but a judge awarded the injunction that Turner said takes effect immediately and lasts 180 days. The injunction expires Feb. 20 and allows a trial before the statute is implemented.

"We're really happy because the judge realized that there is an issue with this particular section of the law," Fuller said. "But the bigger issue is that we don't have to rush to create the language. At this point, we have time to review the issue."

Following Friday's morning injunction, Gov. Jay Nixon announced plans to ask state lawmakers to repeal some of the provisions in Senate Bill 54, which have been called confusing by Missouri teachers and other school staff. The governor plans to address the issue with the General Assembly in the special session that begins Sept. 6, Scott Holste, Nixon's press secretary, said in a news release.

"Because of confusion and concern among educators, students and families over this specific provision of Senate Bill 54, I will ask the General Assembly to repeal that particular section, while preserving other vital protections included in the bill," he said in the release.

According to the release, Nixon will specifically ask for repeal of the sections which require school districts to adopt a plan to address student-teacher electronic communications by Jan. 1.

Nanci Gonder, press secretary for Attorney General Chris Koster's  Office, said that Koster does not have a comment Friday about the injunction.

Cunningham said she welcomes the opportunity to clarify the law and remove any ambiguity. "Kit and I are working with educational stakeholders and arrived at compromise language to address this specific issue," she said.

"The judge has given us 180 days; I don't need that. We have compromise language and are ready to resolve this."

She said the governor now will be including this matter in his special session, so she felt they would be able to address the resolution as early as Sept. 6.

"There's a hard way to do this, and an easy way," Cunningham said. "MSTA took the hard and very expensive way.

She said she felt sorry for dues-paying MSTA members because they were paying for matters, such as this, to be handled, but now "their money was being used to sabotage something their organization initially helped to craft and endorse."

Cunningham said all it takes is communications, just like what occurred when she attended the board of education meeting Thursday evening. She and Rockwood chief information officer, Steve Beatty, were able to go through three main questions he had. "He said that immediately helped clear up the confusion. It's just called 'communication.' I am approachable and available—if anyone had any questions about this law, they just needed to ask," she said.

The goal, she reminded, is to get a law in place that protects both students and educators and keeps everyone safe.

The Missouri National Education Association issued the following statement in an email Friday, "We are pleased that Governor Nixon and the court agree with our members that this portion of the new law needs to be fixed. Missouri NEA will continue to work with legislators and the other education organizations to find a long-term solution that goes well beyond the 180 day time frame outlined in this morning's court decision. The problematic language in SB54 needs to be addressed  by the General Assembly -- and not by the courts -- because that allows educators, school districts and the students we serve to be a part of the solution."

Local Editors Gregg Palermo and Julie Patton contributed to this report.