LANSING -- Freedom of speech and the press is a right that every citizen enjoys, right?

Wrong.

Under a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, school officials may censor student publications if they decide that the material isn’t in accord with the mission of the school.

A bill by Rep. Andy Coulouris, D-Saginaw, seeks to change that situation.

His proposal would ban censorship of student publications by school boards, administrators and employees.

“I have this precondition to promote a free press and First Amendment rights,” said Coulouris.

Student publications would remain subject to censorship if material is obscene, libelous or an invasion of privacy under federal or state law.

The bill would apply to all student media, and not just newspapers.

Censorship would also be allowed if material causes an administrator to reasonably believe there is clear and present danger that the school’s orderly operation would be disrupted or would incite an illegal act.

In addition, student publications wouldn’t be allowed to include advertising for a product or service which is illegal for minors.

Coulouris, who was editor of his school’s newspaper at Arthur Hill High, said censoring publications stifles student expression and that he was prompted to introduce this bill after a First Amendment activist group approached him.

He said it’s important to give students the responsibility to determine what is published, because it helps them learn to become critical thinkers.

The proposal has a chance of passing, said Coulouris, if legislators “frame it as a way to protect democracy” and not a student right’s issue.

A co-sponsor, Rep. Fred Miller, D-Mount Clemens, said, it’s important for students to be free to express their ideas.

“They have interesting and fresh takes on the world and have the right to express them,” said Miller.

Miller added, “It is a good learning experience to be involved in student journalism” and it “fosters creative and independent thinkers.”

Co-sponsor Brian Calley, R-Portland, said, “I’m very concerned that kids growing up today don’t have an appreciation for the importance of our Constitution.”

Calley said the proposal is important because “when it comes to the freedom of speech and freedom of the press, we should err on the side of freedom.”

Other sponsors include Reps. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit, Lisa Wojno, D-Warren and Pam Byrnes, D-Chelsea.

Cheryl Pell, executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, is also a strong advocate of the bill.

Pell said that with proper instruction, students can practice responsible journalism.

Under the proposal, a faculty adviser would supervise students and teach them professional standards of journalism.

“A good journalism teacher is imperative,” said Pell.

Pell said that it’s inevitable that newspapers will print articles that draw criticism, saying, “we can’t worry so much about offending people.”

For example, in 2006 at Hillsborough High School in Florida, Principal William Orr objected to an article about the achievement gap between white and minority students and pulled it from the paper to avoid embarrassing some students.

Pell said the article shouldn’t have been censored.

Another instance of censorship occurred in the Utica Community School District. Student Katy Dean wrote a story about a lawsuit against the district by residents Rey and Joanne Frances who claimed that the diesel exhaust from a school bus garage was worsening Rey Frances’s lung cancer.

In a victory for student journalists, U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Tarnow of Detroit ruled in favor of Dean, saying that student journalists “must be allowed to publish viewpoints contrary to those of state authorities without intervention or censorship from the authorities themselves.”

The Michigan Press Association, which represents daily and weekly commercial newspapers across the state, doesn’t oppose the bill, but does not support the legislation as written, said Executive Director Mike MacLaren.

MacLaren said that the proposal wouldn’t let a school act as the publisher and veto stories, which happens occasionally in professional news organizations.

Linda Wacyk, director of communications for the Michigan Association of School Administrators, said that the organization has no position on the proposal

States with similar laws are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts and Oregon.

The bill is pending in the House Education Committee.