A federal district judge has ruled that the New York City school system鈥檚 prohibition against teachers鈥� wearing of campaign buttons in school is likely constitutional.
In an Oct. 17 opinion, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of U.S. District Court in Manhattan rejected a request by the United Federation of Teachers for a preliminary injunction that would bar enforcement of the city schools chancellor鈥檚 regulation against wearing political buttons.
The judge said that while most students wouldn鈥檛 perceive the teachers鈥� buttons as representing the views of the school district, the 1.1 million-student district had an interest in 鈥渁voiding the entanglement of their public educational mission with partisan politics.鈥�
The UFT, which like its parent, the American Federation of Teachers, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, sued the New York City school system on Oct. 10, seeking to block the regulation, which the district reiterated in September after the union had urged button-wearing and other political activity. The union argued that teachers had worn campaign buttons in city schools for years and that such actions were protected by the First Amendment. (鈥淭eachers鈥� Campaign Buttons Stir Up Controversy,鈥� Oct. 15, 2008.)
