what criteria may administrators use to censor a high school news papers?

Answer 1

Anti-discriminatory censors are legal and in some cases mandatory. As a government-funded newspaper you are not allowed to express any opinion that denegrates any other person's gender, race, religion, sexual preference, lifestyle, etc.

To think that simply because you are writing for a newspaper you get to say whatever you want is ludicrous. No matter what you publish, if it is held into the public domain, there are certain rules that must be followed. For instance, you cannot advertise a room for rent and say "no children" as this constituted discrimination against people with children.

Publicly funded publuications (like student newspapers) are bound by many restrictions that privately-funded papers are not. You cannot advocate the overthrowing of your government, or advocate for any one certain political party as this created an implicit endorsement from your state or local government for that party.

The criteria used by administrators is typically a lot less draconian than many fear. You cannot advocate for or against any religion, publish any piece that degrades people of any gender, race, or religion. And you cannot attempt to subvert the institution that is actually paying the bills.

That is not to say that an opinion piece disagreeing with any one policy of your local government is illegal. If published as an opinion piece, you are well within your rights to criticize any public official (the key word is public) or policy as long as it is not done under the guise of "fact."

Answer 2

They shouldn't use any. If your high school is public, and funded by the state, then it is considered a government institution and should be protected under the first amendment.