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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Teachers no longer would be exempt from criminal charges for showing students materials deemed to be harmful to minors under a bill given first-round approval in the Kansas Senate Tuesday.
Teachers could be criminally charged for exposing students to any materials that could be considered too sexual or profane according to "contemporary community standards."
Critics have said the bill's wide definition of profanity would open up teachers to potential prosecution for teaching anything from sex education to classical literature.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said in written testimony that the bill "could criminalize teachers simply for distributing handouts, displaying posters, or sharing educational information."
Republican Sen. Forrest Knox of Altoona said that he supported the bill because the implicit threat of prosecution would force teachers to have necessary restraint on sensitive topics.
"I think this change would have a chilling effect, but I think it would chill the sort of materials that almost any parent would expect was chilled in K-12," Knox said.
Museums and libraries would still be exempt from prosecution for exposing minors to harmful material.
Democratic Sen. David Haley of Kansas City said that Senate Democrats, who usually push back against conservative education proposals, intended to argue vigorously against the bill, but were out of the chamber when it came up for discussion.
"Someone just dropped the ball," Haley said.
The bill swiftly moved through the approval process without debate and will be up for a final vote Wednesday before moving to the House.
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