Four bills are pending in Congress to tighten access to student data under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. None of the measures appears to worsen journalists' access to public records from schools and colleges, but none addresses the well-documented misuse of FERPA to conceal campus scandals under the guide of "student privacy."
When four students sued the Puyallup School District in 2008 claiming the JagWire student newspaper violated their privacy, no one really expected anything good to come out of the lawsuit for student journalists.
With duct taped mouths and signs sporting slogans such as ''No Newspaper, No Voice,'' students at Fremont High School protested the school's decision to cancel the journalism class for the 2010-2011 school year.
With the increasing move toward online journalism, high schools across the country are struggling to find a balance between teaching journalism for the Web while also responding to parents' safety concerns.
Missoula County Public Schools will likely scrap aproposal for a new student publications policy after concerns were voiced overits restrictive wording.
The Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trusteesis considering a new student publications policy that it hopes will align thejournalism programs at all of its schools, but some worry the new policy tooseverely limits students' work.
As an update to the California student freeexpression law clears its most recent hurdle, the California school at thecenter of the debate over whether the state's law applies to charterschools has dismissed its yearbook adviser.
Some West Covina High School students and alumniare protesting the decision to replace the long-time adviser of their newspaper,Newsbytes.
The Souhegan Cooperative School Board inAmherst is reexamining its yearbook policy after a controversy over the SouheganHigh School yearbook printing portrait photos of two students charged inconnection with a murder.
Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill into law June 4that is meant to prevent school districts from restricting the First Amendmentrights of school employees or students without their consent.