“The Teaching Council should throw out a vexatious complaint against a teacher who expressed a political opinion online”, says ACT Education spokesperson Laura McClure.

According to the Free Speech Union, a complaint has been made about a teacher who made a comment about the Treaty Principles Bill on Facebook. The complaint alleges that the teacher has breached the Teaching Council’s Code of Conduct, in particular the requirement for ‘manaakitanga: creating a welcoming, caring, and creative learning environment.’

“The comment disagreed with the Teaching Council submitting against the Treaty Principles Bill on behalf of all teachers.

“The Teaching Council cannot use its Code of Conduct to silence people having a political opinion outside the classroom. That itself would be a potential breach of the law.

“This teacher has a right, like anyone else, to express their opinions freely on social media.

“Teachers have contacted me to complain that they are uncomfortable with the fact that the Teaching Council made a submission against the Treaty Principles Bill. Clearly, they did not speak to their members.

“The complaint is clearly an attempt to punish someone who holds the ‘wrong’ opinion on the Treaty, and it should be treated with contempt and thrown out.”

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