Nixon Rids Schools of Facebook Ban

Democratic Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law Friday legislation that eliminates the ban on social media use by public school teachers.

The ban on use between teachers and students of internet sites like Facebook was on hold by court order after Chesterfield's State Sen. Jane Cunningham, a Republican, that was seen as antiquated by some but played on parents' fears about potentially predatory school staff.

The ban would not allow teachers to communicate through texts and emails with students, unless a third party was involved. Texting and email are a primary form of communication for young people now.

When Missouri State , a court order stopped Cunningham's law from going into effect as the new school year began.

Cunningham's office described the problem as unclear language in her law, and that tweaking it would solve things.

Others, like a , and the law wouldn't even allow her to chat with her own school-age offspring on Facebook—on the internet.

After languishing on hold for nearly two months, lawmakers during this special session of the Legislature, eliminating the older version. Nixon signed it Friday.

“This bill is not as good as it should be, but to veto it would return us to a bill that would be far worse,” Nixon said in a written statement with the signing.

And state Teachers Association's Todd Fuller, director of communications, said the issue is not over.

"The reason we just don't drop the lawsuit is because we don't know what policy is going to be written. This injunction still protects teachers as policy is written and put into place," Fuller told Patch.

Cunningham thought the latest version of the law served to confirm things for school districts with social media policies already in place, and provided direction for those who would be formulating a policy by March 1.

"I think we particularly needed to clarify the language about electronic communication," Cunningham told Patch Friday.