ACADEMIC FREEDOM

WHEREAS, basic goals of public education include teaching young people both to think critically and to know their rights under the law and the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS, the academic freedom which is prerequisite to this teaching has been denied teachers in some areas; and

WHEREAS, approved curricula too frequently make little or no allowance for academic freedom, and teacher organizations are too seldom involved in the development of curricula; and

WHEREAS, some teachers have been denied not merely the rights of academic freedom, but even their right to freedom of speech outside the classroom:

RESOLVED, that the AFT encourage its locals to win, through collective bargaining, complete academic freedom for all teachers; and

RESOLVED, that AFT locals work in their state legislatures and that the AFT work in Congress to assure protection of academic freedom for all teachers; and

RESOLVED, that AFT vigorously defend the rights of its members to academic freedom.