Concerning the employment rights of public school employees and officials relating to student exercise of free expression in public schools

This bill provides that a public school employee or official shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, subject to termination or nonrenewal of a teaching contract or an extracurricular contract, or otherwise retaliated against solely for acting to protect a student for engaging in conduct authorized under Iowa law pertaining to freedom of expression of public school students, or refusing to infringe upon student conduct that is protected by such Iowa law, the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, or Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the State of Iowa. Current law provides that public school students have the right to exercise freedom of speech, including the right of expression in official school publications, with exceptions for materials that are obscene, libelous, or slanderous, or encourage students to commit unlawful acts, violate lawful school regulations, or cause the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.