Massachusetts Education Department Drops Appeal of Adverse First Amendment Ruling - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE) has agreed to drop its appeal of a lower state court’s ruling that DOE officials violated the First Amendment when they coerced education conference organizers into cancelling the keynote speech of Alfie Kohn, a well-known critic of high stakes exams like the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) testing program. In dropping the appeal, the DOE issued a statement acknowledging that a former DOE official “violated the First Amendment rights of Alfie Kohn to be heard and to communicate information and of people to hear and receive information, at a conference in western Massachusetts in 2001.” The DOE said, “The DOE’s position is that vigorous debate about education issues is healthy and welcome.”

(Read Original Article - Via American Civil Liberties Union.)