PHILADELPHIA — The Central Bucks school board is advancing a policy that would ban staff members from advocating to students about “partisan, political or social policy issues,” a proposal critics said would have a chilling effect on teachers.
The policy — a revision of an earlier proposal put on hold last month after the district hired former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain to address allegations that the district’s policies discriminate against LGBTQ students — no longer refers to “beliefs about sexual orientation” or “beliefs about gender identity” as topics about which teachers cannot “advocate” to students.
But just what the updated version would prohibit was the subject of debate during a school board committee meeting Wednesday. Democrats on the board pressed the Republican majority to define “social policy” issues; board president Dana Hunter mentioned abortion but didn’t name others.
