Governor Jay Nixon has called for the state legislative body to remove portions of a law that limits online communication between teachers and students. His move came shortly after a court blocked the new law from going into effect. The argument is that it would limit free speech and was a possible violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
Nixon’s request goes even further than the judge’s order, which was confined to private conversations on non-work-related websites. The governor also wants lawmakers to reverse new restrictions on work-related websites and abolish a requirement for schools to develop written policies by January on teacher-student communications.
The new Missouri law prohibiting teachers from having private online conversations with students suffered a double setback Friday. First a judge blocked it from taking effect because of free speech concerns. Then the governor called for its repeal.
Glenda Thurlkill, president of the Springfield MSTA, said she was delighted to know the judge blocked the part of the law challenged by her group.
“If the governor is willing to repeal that portion of SB 54 we sought the injunction on, MSTA would have no concerns about it,” she said.
The law limiting teacher-student conversations through social networking sites such as Facebook had been scheduled to take effect Sunday. But Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem issued a preliminary injunction blocking it until at least February, declaring the restrictions “would have a chilling effect” on free speech rights.

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