19th Annual Educational Law and Social Justice Forum will Feature “Speech and Protest in Public Schools”

The 19^th Annual Educational Law and Social Justice Forum will feature a speaker who will talk about “Speech and Protest in Public Schools.”  The lecture will cover a wide range of topics. The event is cosponsored by both the Journal of Educational Controversy and the Center of Education, Equity and Diversity. 

 Title of Lecture: Speech and Protest in Public Schools

 Speaker: Vanessa Hernandez, Youth Policy Director of the ACLU of Washington

Speaker will discuss the law around student and teacher speech and protest in K-12 schools.  In particular, the talk will focus on emerging issues around student protest, student clubs, the relationship between First Amendment and antidiscrimination protections, teachers’ use of social media and teacher and student engagement in political activity outside of school hours.

 The event will take place at:

Western Washington University

Center for Education, Equity and Diversity

Miller Hall 005

Thursday, May 31, 2018

4pm

 Bio of Speaker:  

Vanessa Hernandez formerly managed the ACLU-WA’s Second Chances Project, serving the legal needs of people reentering society from prisons and jails.  She is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, where she was a Gates Public Service Law Scholar.  Prior to law school, Vanessa taught middle school history and drama, and is the parent to two children in Seattle Public Schools.

“My job is to fight to keep young people in schools and out of prisons and jails. I work with policy makers and community members to replace punishment-based approaches with positive, preventative, and restorative approaches that can eliminate pipelines to mass incarceration.”

The Journal of Educational Controversy has published several articles in this area. For example, see "Visions of Public Education in Morse v. Frederick" at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/jec/vol3/iss1/21/

See also our special issue on the "School to Prison Pipeline" and our Video Interviews with Authors.

This event is free and open to the public.