Klein Overreached

A Federal judge last week upheld the Department of Education ban on Teachers wearing campaign buttons in their schools, while overturning its prohibition of political communication through staff mailboxes and union bulletin boards.

It's a reasonable ruling. Our guess is that the mere wearing of buttons supporting the candidates of their choice by Teachers is not going to have the potentially intimidating effect on students who don't share their views that Schools Chancellor Joel Klein fears, but U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan may have believed that permitting it opened the door to more-strident conduct.

But the fact that he was compelled to rule on the Chancellor's ban on internal political communication tells much about why, according to United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, many of her members are reluctant to support a term-limits extension because it could mean an additional four years of Mr. Klein as their boss.

Any union that is politically active — as the UFT most certainly is — makes sure that its members are aware of which candidates it is supporting. Individual Teachers are likely to add their own voices to the debate, whether for or against those the union backs. This is an entirely appropriate give and take, and Mr. Klein had no business meddling in it.

Agree with him or not, he had a legitimate concern about the impact of the display of political buttons in school. Overreaching as he did in an attempt to stymie internal communication, however, smacks more of a lawyer pursuing an adversarial relationship with a union than a leading education official looking to draw a fair line regarding free expression and its limits for public workers.