Senator Mary Pilcher-Cook
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas senators are considering a bill that would make it easier to prosecute teachers, librarians or school principals for exposing students to offensive materials.
The Wichita Eagle reports the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure last week. Shawnee Republican Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook introduced the bill in response to an incident in January in which a poster used in sex education classes was put on a classroom door at a Shawnee Mission middle school.
Supporters say the current law protects materials that are part of an approved course or program of instruction, which allows schools to ignore community standards for what might be considered offensive.
Opponents say the measure amounts to broad censorship in response to a problem that doesn’t exist.