Blog Stage Six: Comment on a colleague's work (Twitter vs Trump)

       

  To sue or not to sue that is the question. The Twitter vs Trump article written by Emily DiMego was an interesting taking on the social media phenomenon that has followed this new presidency. The article discussed how president Trump should not be allowed to block individuals from Twitter. That he does not have those rights and that blocking people on Twitter somehow violates other’s rights to voice their opinions. There are several problems with this theory and there needs to be a clear understanding of what twitter is used for.

The twitter account in question is the president’s own personal account. The president has the right to the 2^nd amendment just as much as the next person. If he feels that the person that is posting on his account is harassing him, it clearly stated in the twitter rules that he can block them. There are clear rules to twitter that people must follow, nowhere does it state that public figures are barred from the right to restrict their own account. It is the individual rights that are protected in twitter. The demeanor and tone of the president’s tweets is not what is in question (regardless of how cringe worthy they might be.)

The actual legality of the fact that he has blocked individuals is what is in question. Twitter gives the individual account holder the right to choose his followers. It states on twitter “You’ll receive a request when new people want to follow you, which you can approve or deny.” That clearly mean the president using a personal account has the right to block whoever he wants. Twitter is a privatized social media platform. Removing the right to choose on a private communication platform is not granting the president his 2^nd amendment rights. The tweets are not based on official government policy. It is not a tool for government. It is a private social media tool for citizens. This account was his prior to him becoming president.

Blog Stage Five: Original editorial - Texas Senate Bill SB2 on School Choice

SPECIAL SESSION in TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE  - JULY 2017

Senate education chairman Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, center, speaks during a Capitol hearing on Senate Bill 2 on Friday. NICK WAGNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

 If you look at the current special session happening in the Texas Legislature you can see a bill that is running forward that can complete change the landscape of our public schools. Senate bill SB2 that is up for vote in a special session that was called on by Governor Greg Abbott. The bill is being called the “School Choice Bill”.

There have been numerous factors that have brought this case to the senate floor in the Texas Legislature. The Texas Republican Party has been long proponents of the “School Choice” Ideal. Which would allow parents to select their children’s school and not depend on their zoning, additionally the could use a voucher to send their child to the school of their choice. This bill is not a full “school choice" bill, but rather a school choice bill only for children with disabilities.  Some feel this bill will help give them the ability to seek out the best education for their children. While others feel that this bill will ultimately damage our current public education system.

State Education Chairman Larry Taylor and co-author of the bill said that "A lot of those kids are very very bright. They just need a little bit more help."(Swaby). The estimate is that SB 2 would give about 6,000 students scholarships of up to $10,000 so they can attend private schools. The problem is that though the bill is said to help disabled children. It would actually end up harming the entire public-school system and there is not a lot of weight on the idea that this bill would even do what it proposes. The actual picture is much grimmer. As the session has gone one there have been multiple activist that have voiced a strong opposition to this bill, which have come in the many types of individuals. The most moving of these displays was done by a 17 year old girl by the name of Abigail Tassin. Who said “"I want to be with everyone else," she said. "Help my teachers be able to help me better."(Swaby). She ask the legislators not to pass the bill and urged them to focus on improving the current system.

The fact is that the private school sector is not held to the same standards as public schools. By providing the parents with the tax credit scholarship for their child does nothing to focus on helping those children and moves towards a scary idea of “school vouchers” which can have a detrimental effect on public school. 

A very clear statement as to what this bill is actually proposing was disclosed by a lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators said “One of the biggest philosophical problems we have with this bill is that it changes the mentality from 'Let's fix the problems that we have' ... to saying, 'Well, now we've provided you with this out,” (Swaby)
 

* Swaby, A. (2017, July 24). Senate Approves Bill That Would Subsidize Private School Tuition. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 26, 2017, from https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/24/texas-senate-public-education-bills