From Konnie Krisloff (California mentor) to the JEA Mentors listserv:

Konnie Krisloff pictured in The Orange County Register's coverage of the passage of the admendment to protect student expression in California charter schools.

Can you pass the word: Gov. Schwarznegger signed the charter school free speech amendment to Ed.Code 48907 last night, completing our 10-month fight for First Amendment rights for high school journalists. My legacy is complete! (I may not have my job, but I have my dignity and my students, and others, will not have to fear charter school administrators in the future as will have the “teeth” to stand for them and with them if this situation should ever arise in the future.)

From Julie Dodd (JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair) to Konnie:

Bravo! Can you write a post for our JEA blog? You might include advice you’d provide about how to go about passing such legislation. I know the mentors would want to read about the passage and the advice could be useful to others who will be Googling to fine info about improving student expression rights in private schools. Thanks.

From Konnie for the JEA Mentoring blog:

So here is the link (to the article in The Orange County Register), and this is what I would tell mentors/mentees that I already said in Washington,D.C., when you were kind enough to let me speak to the group.

I will update in my session for NSPA/JEA in Kansas City titled “How Many Administrators Does it Take to Spell Ratatouille?”

1) Sign up for the Student Press Law Center.

2) Be a member of JEA and the local chapter.

3) Be a member of the local professional press organization in your state.

4) Know at least four other journalism advisers you can contact.

5) Know your “1st Amendment legal advocates” in your state college or university system.

6) Let other people do the outreach for you in times of trouble; do not personally contact the media or Facebook or blog.

7) Silence is NOT your friend so when you are interviewed, tell your story truthfully and well–have good quotes for people to use.

8) Remember: “student rights” is a student issue, not an adviser issue. Students have to be willing to fight for their rights and your job as adviser is to support THEM–it is never about YOU.

9) Have a friend in your state capital like Sen. Yee.

10) Be ready to sacrifice for this cause.