On Monday, April 29, PSPA Board President Aaron Fitzpatrick, Board Member Cyndi Hyatt, and 2024 Pennsylvania Student Journalist of the Year Ben Shapiro offered testimony in support of the Student Journalism Protection Act at an informational meeting of the Pennsylvania House Education Committtee.
Fitzpatrick's remarks follow below. Please watch the linked video for remarks by Hyatt and Shapiro. Learn more at the New Voices website.
Fitzpatrick's remarks follow below. Please watch the linked video for remarks by Hyatt and Shapiro. Learn more at the New Voices website.
Chairman Schweyer, Chairman Topper, and members of the House Education Committee: Thank you once again for inviting us here today to speak about the Student Journalism Protection Act.
My name is Aaron Fitzpatrick. I am a master journalism educator, the president of the Pennsylvania School Press Association, 2018 Pennsylvania Journalism Teacher of the Year, and a New Voices legislation advocate. As a teacher at Freedom Area High School in Beaver County, I’ve advised the newspaper and yearbook for the past 12 years, and the broadcast program for the past nine. In that time, while my students and I have been fortunate to have had the support of our school board and administration, particularly during my tenure serving on the PSPA Board of Directors, I’ve met many advisers and students across the state who, unfortunately, haven’t been so lucky. I’m here today for them and on behalf of the student journalists and advisers who struggle each day to choose between telling the stories their school communities deserve to hear and avoiding possible conflict with school officials to avoid unpleasant confrontation or even to protect their advisers’ jobs.
The work these student journalists and advisers do is among the most heavily scrutinized in our entire education system. While a typical student’s work is viewed and evaluated by a single teacher, student journalists’ work is published, distributed to their district communities, and viewed by their classmates, teachers, parents, administrators, school board members, and beyond. To say that this is a weighty responsibility is quite the understatement, yet it’s a responsibility they take very seriously.
These students aren’t just our future professional journalists; they’re our engineers, healthcare professionals, creatives, teachers, and business owners. These students develop writing, editing, photography, marketing, design, teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills, all while keeping their communities informed, so long as they have the support to do so.
In the seven years since I first began advocating for this legislation, I’ve spoken with a number of legislators, journalists, and media organizations to explain why we need the Student Journalism Protection Act. One of the most common questions we get from those conversations is if we have examples we can share of students being censored and if we can share the article or work in question.
Unfortunately, while I’d argue even one such example would be too many, I tell them we have a number of examples from across our state, some we learned about through word-of-mouth; others through surveys we’ve conducted, and a couple that have even made national news, ironically due to the censorship itself.
Still, I remind them, this bill is as much for those who HAVE faced censorship as it is for all of those who have gone out of their way to self-censor to avoid conflict, and student journalists and advisers to come who, without House Bill 1309 to protect them in their roles, may decide not to get involved in the first place.
And we NEED them to be involved and tell these stories.
By “we,” I don’t mean journalism advisers. Our communities need them—especially now when our students cover so many areas that our shrinking local and regional media outlets are unable to cover. School board meetings, policy changes, sporting events, student life, and most things that take place within district walls would go unreported if it weren’t for these incredible individuals.
To truly support these students in their important work, we also need to support and protect their advisers. Being a journalism adviser isn’t for the faint of heart. Any adviser can attest that it’s a demanding role that requires countless hours outside of what is contractually expected, and at a time when teacher shortages are at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to support and protect these tireless, hardworking individuals any way we can. House Bill 1309 can do just that.
So, on behalf of Pennsylvania’s current student journalists and advisers and all those yet to come, I’m asking you to support the Student Journalism Protection Act.
Thank you, again, for allowing us this time to testify for HB 1309.
My name is Aaron Fitzpatrick. I am a master journalism educator, the president of the Pennsylvania School Press Association, 2018 Pennsylvania Journalism Teacher of the Year, and a New Voices legislation advocate. As a teacher at Freedom Area High School in Beaver County, I’ve advised the newspaper and yearbook for the past 12 years, and the broadcast program for the past nine. In that time, while my students and I have been fortunate to have had the support of our school board and administration, particularly during my tenure serving on the PSPA Board of Directors, I’ve met many advisers and students across the state who, unfortunately, haven’t been so lucky. I’m here today for them and on behalf of the student journalists and advisers who struggle each day to choose between telling the stories their school communities deserve to hear and avoiding possible conflict with school officials to avoid unpleasant confrontation or even to protect their advisers’ jobs.
The work these student journalists and advisers do is among the most heavily scrutinized in our entire education system. While a typical student’s work is viewed and evaluated by a single teacher, student journalists’ work is published, distributed to their district communities, and viewed by their classmates, teachers, parents, administrators, school board members, and beyond. To say that this is a weighty responsibility is quite the understatement, yet it’s a responsibility they take very seriously.
These students aren’t just our future professional journalists; they’re our engineers, healthcare professionals, creatives, teachers, and business owners. These students develop writing, editing, photography, marketing, design, teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills, all while keeping their communities informed, so long as they have the support to do so.
In the seven years since I first began advocating for this legislation, I’ve spoken with a number of legislators, journalists, and media organizations to explain why we need the Student Journalism Protection Act. One of the most common questions we get from those conversations is if we have examples we can share of students being censored and if we can share the article or work in question.
Unfortunately, while I’d argue even one such example would be too many, I tell them we have a number of examples from across our state, some we learned about through word-of-mouth; others through surveys we’ve conducted, and a couple that have even made national news, ironically due to the censorship itself.
Still, I remind them, this bill is as much for those who HAVE faced censorship as it is for all of those who have gone out of their way to self-censor to avoid conflict, and student journalists and advisers to come who, without House Bill 1309 to protect them in their roles, may decide not to get involved in the first place.
And we NEED them to be involved and tell these stories.
By “we,” I don’t mean journalism advisers. Our communities need them—especially now when our students cover so many areas that our shrinking local and regional media outlets are unable to cover. School board meetings, policy changes, sporting events, student life, and most things that take place within district walls would go unreported if it weren’t for these incredible individuals.
To truly support these students in their important work, we also need to support and protect their advisers. Being a journalism adviser isn’t for the faint of heart. Any adviser can attest that it’s a demanding role that requires countless hours outside of what is contractually expected, and at a time when teacher shortages are at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to support and protect these tireless, hardworking individuals any way we can. House Bill 1309 can do just that.
So, on behalf of Pennsylvania’s current student journalists and advisers and all those yet to come, I’m asking you to support the Student Journalism Protection Act.
Thank you, again, for allowing us this time to testify for HB 1309.
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