Anonymous wrote:Another Wilson parent here, annoyed by this decision. The kids have a great point, if she gets to review, then she is in a way responsible for the content. Bad decision imo, why not leave it as it is and not have to answer for what the students are writing? Duh.

In other Wilson news, anyone know if there will be a Chinese teacher next week? Maybe she should be working on getting someone to teach all the Chinese classes asap. My kid basically had an extra free period in Chinese all week. Maybe they should put a help wanted add in the Beacon.

Hate to say it, but she just may be out of her league here.

See everyone at the meet-the-principal-coffee on Sept. 8 at 8 am.

why is the 'meet the principal' event always set up for a time when most parents are working?

Another Wilson parent here, annoyed by this decision. The kids have a great point, if she gets to review, then she is in a way responsible for the content. Bad decision imo, why not leave it as it is and not have to answer for what the students are writing? Duh.

In other Wilson news, anyone know if there will be a Chinese teacher next week? Maybe she should be working on getting someone to teach all the Chinese classes asap. My kid basically had an extra free period in Chinese all week. Maybe they should put a help wanted add in the Beacon.

Hate to say it, but she just may be out of her league here.

See everyone at the meet-the-principal-coffee on Sept. 8 at 8 am.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think Constitutional law is on the children's side on this one.

That's may be the case and i wouldnt put it past some of those students to look at case law. But more importantly Ms. Martin will lose the goid will of parents - she lost me with this. It's the most ridiculous thing for a Wilson principal to take a stand on.

Co-sign...she plans to oversee the Beacon, perhaps she ought to have been keeping watch on the scheduling of classes instead? I'm not going to write her off as a failure just from these 2 issues but it doesn't look good thus far.

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. Bad decision by the principal. Way to get your student stakeholders on board with you as a new administrator. Very well-written piece by the students.

+1 double ugh...

Anonymous wrote:I should have cited my source--please note Supreme Court case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. (Establishing a lower bar for what is protected First Amendment speech when it comes to school newspapers.

The issue is not whether or not she has the power to censor teen journalists in the nation's capital, but whether she should use that power.

Ugh. Bad decision by the principal. Way to get your student stakeholders on board with you as a new administrator. Very well-written piece by the students.

I am wondering why she needs to start tinkering with the school paper when she should be acquainting herself with the students and faculty at Wilson. DC reports that, a week into school, he has yet to see this new principal.

Is the Beacon the paper she did that gawd awful interview with this summer that made her seem like a nincompoop??? There were so many (for all the wrong reasons) quotables it wasn't even funny. Worse, it raised concerns about her competence before she was even able to get on the plane to DC. There's a thread about that interview on here that went on for days.

If it's the same paper she did that student interview with, perhaps that's the problem. Maybe she blames coming across is an unfavorable light on the paper (not realizing it was her RESPONSES that made her look bad). Perhaps she wants to review all content beforehand to make sure she and her leadership do not look bad. That doesn't make it okay, but it is a better answer than "because that's the way I've always done it".

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think Constitutional law is on the children's side on this one.

That's may be the case and i wouldnt put it past some of those students to look at case law. But more importantly Ms. Martin will lose the goid will of parents - she lost me with this. It's the most ridiculous thing for a Wilson principal to take a stand on.

I was. It impressed by Martin and wondered where her resume showed that she had the experience to run a school like Wilson. However , when I opened this thread I was expecting to find some empty complaint and I was ready to write a pet saying that we needed to giver her a few months before we can judge her based on her tenure at Wilson. Well, I am appalled at her request for prior review. I am also impressed at the reaction of the kids. She was brought in to close the gap between the "two tracks" at Wilson and help low a hiving students improve, and her first efforts go to put the muzzle o a respected and well functioning student newspaper? Sounds like during that phone interview last summer the students forgot to ask about her relationship with the newspaper as a principal. I remember her ridiculous "kaya is the best educator in the country". Maybe she wants students with a similar independent spirit. Really shame on her and on who hired her. I hope she reverses her decision quickly

I should have cited my source--please note Supreme Court case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. (Establishing a lower bar for what is protected First Amendment speech when it comes to school newspapers.

Interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think Constitutional law is on the children's side on this one.

This was the first thing my DC told me after the first Beacon meeting. It did not give me a favorable impression of the principal. Plus there are so many parent journalists at the school, Ms. Martin is in for some conflict over this one.

Great editorial! Loved the shout out to DCUM. If there hasn't been prior review in the past and there haven't been problems, it would seem like the Principal could better use her energies elsewhere.

http://thewilsonbeacon.com/prior-review-is-indirect-censorship/

I want to give the new principal a chance but this is really disappointing. I'm very impressed with the student editorial staff for standing up to this interference.