Teacher Issues

EDL 628
School Law and
Agenda
1. Announcements/Qu
estions
– Review Sheet
– Online Course Next
Week
– KYPT Issues
2. Evaluation &
Dismissal
3. Teacher Expression
EDL 628
– Oral Argument
School Law and
 Quick Review
• Discrimination in
Employment
– Protected Classes (various
statutes)
– Compelling Interest
– Disparate Impact v. Disparate
Treatment
– BFOQ
• Teacher Contracts
– Individual v. Collective
– Elements of a Contract
• Due Process
– Dismissal during contract
term v. RIF v. Nonrenewal. EDL 628
– Tenure v. Non-Tenure School Law and
Evaluating Teachers
• 704 KAR 3:345
• When to Evaluate

• Must a school develop and

follow an evaluation plan?
– Yes, at least for tenured
teachers to put them on
notice of the evaluation
criteria.

• Who to evaluate …

EDL 628
School Law and
 Case Summary

Bd. of Educ. of Erlanger-Elsmere v.

Code

EDL 628
School Law and
 Teacher
Dismissal
• Causes & Procedures for
Dismissal
• 161.790
• Procedures for Dismissal
– Notification of charges,
– Opportunity for a hearing,
– Adequate time to prepare a
rebuttal to the charges,
– Access to evidence and names
of witnesses,
– Hearing before an impartial
tribunal,
http://www.edjurist.com/blog/2008/4/1/some-more-teachers-on-tape.html
1. Insubordination
2. Immoral Character
3. Physical or Mental
Disability
4. Inefficiency,
5. Incompetency, &
6. Neglect of Duty
– Representation by legal
counsel,
– Opportunity to present
evidence and witnesses,
– Opportunity to cross-
examine adverse witnesses,
– Decision based on evidence
and findings of the hearing,
– Transcript of the hearing,
and
– Opportunity to appeal.
EDL 628
School Law and
 Administrator Dismissal
• Term Contracts, so possible
nonrenewal with no due process.
• If dismissed during the term of a
contract, due process ensues.
• If the administrator has tenure in the
district, must comply with 161.175
reclassification to a teaching position
is possible.

EDL 628
School Law and
How free are teachers in their
expression and lifestyle choices?

EDL 628
School Law and
Oral Argument Preparation
Time

Photocredits: Laughing S

EDL 628
School Law and
 Oral Argument
Robertson v. Lieberman County School
District, No. 413

EDL 628
School Law and
 The First Amendment & Teacher
Speech
• Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)
– Jeopardized relationship with superiors or
coworkers?
– Impaired classroom performance?
– Impeded school operations?
• Mt. Healthy (1977)
– School employees can be fired for
independent reasons even when
expression claims exist
• Connick v. Myers (1983)
– The form, content & context of the
expression must relate to a matter of
public concern. Private grievances are not
EDL 628
protected. School Law and
• Garcetti v.
Ceballos (2007)
– “First Amendment
does not prohibit
managerial
discipline based
on an employee's
expressions made
pursuant to official
responsibilities.”
• When a public
employee is acting
within the scope of
their official
duties, they are
not acting as a
citizen, and thus,
not entitled to
protection by the
First Amendment. EDL 628
School Law and
 Case Summary
Curricular Speech?

Boring v. Buncome County Bd. Of

Educ.

EDL 628
School Law and
• How does Hazelwood relate to all of
this?
– Rule: School officials can censor school-
sponsored expression for pedagogical
reasons.
• How is this different from Pickering?
MSNBC –
Teacher
Political EDL 628
School Law and
 Association and Political
Rights
• You can be a Communist, but you
can’t get out of questions about it.

• Political Activity:
– http://www.edjurist.com/blog/too-predictable

EDL 628
School Law and
 Scenario #1
• A AP teacher complained to her
superintendent that it was
unconscionable when the school
district cut funding of the gifted and
talented program.

Is this teacher’s speech protected

under the First Amendment?

EDL 628
School Law and
 Scenario #2
• A teacher appears on a television
talk show as a spokesperson for gay
rights. Six members from the
community come to the
superintendents office demanding
the dismissal of the teacher.

How should the superintendent

respond?
EDL 628
School Law and
 Scenario #3
• A local superintendent has been having
disagreements with the school board on a
possible referendum to increase the
property tax levy to generate more
revenue. The superintendent thinks such a
referendum is necessary, but the board
disagrees and votes down the referendum.
The superintendent then contacts a local
television station and conducts an interview
with a reporter where she voices her
concerns about the board’s actions and
their lack of financial vision. Is this speech
protected?
EDL 628
• Do superintendents & principalsSchoolhaveLawlower
and
 Teacher Lifestyle
Choices
Is the teacher a role model
both in and out of the
classroom?
http://www.edjurist.com/blog/2008/6/17/the-m

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/06/p

EDL 628
School Law and
 Can the school dismiss a
teacher if they disagree with a
teacher’s lifestyle choices?

• Yes. If the conduct has become

notorious and the conduct directly
affects the performance of the
responsibilities of the teacher.

• Note: There must be a nexus

between the teacher’s conduct and
the disruption.
EDL 628
School Law and
 Privacy Rights
• Where do Privacy Rights come from?
– The 4th, 9th & 14th Amendments
• Fourth Amendment: protection against
unreasonable search and seizure.
• Ninth Amendment: personal privacy act as an
unremunerated right reserved to the people.
• Fourteenth Amendment: protection against state
action impairing personal liberties without due
process of law.
• How do they affect schools?
• What do you make of this situation?
– Sex Change Controversy
EDL 628
School Law and
 Past Attempted or Successful
Dismissals for Lifestyle Issues
• Adultery
• Involvement in Divorce
• Pregnancy out of Wedlock
• Homosexual Orientation or Conduct

• Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

EDL 628
School Law and
Where do we draw the line
on teacher privacy?
Where should we?

Teacher’s Contract from 1923:

Miss agrees:
4. Not to get married. This contract
becomes null and void
immediately if the teacher
marries.
5. Not to keep company with men.
EDL 628
School Law and
1. To be home between the hours of
8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. unless in
attendance at a school function.
2. Not to loiter downtown in ice cream
stores.
3. Not to leave town at any time
without the permission of the
chairman of the Board.
4. Not to smoke cigarettes. This
contract becomes null and void
immediately if the teacher
School Lawfound
is
EDL 628
and
1. Not to drink beer, wine, or whiskey.
2. Not to ride in a carriage or
automobile with any man except
her brother or father.
3. Not to dress in bright colors.
4. Not to dye her hair.
5. To wear at least two petticoats.
6. Not to wear dresses more than two
inches above the ankles
7. Not to use face powder, mascara, or
paint the lips
EDL 628
School Law and
 What Amendments apply to
privacy rights? How?
• Fourth Amendment: protection
against unreasonable search and
seizure.
• Ninth Amendment: personal
privacy act as an unremunerated
right reserved to the people.
• Fourteenth Amendment:
protection against state action
impairing personal liberties without
due process of law.
EDL 628
School Law and
Discussion Questions

EDL 628
School Law and