RUNNING HEAD: Artifact #2 Rights and Responsibilities 1

Artifact # 2

Teachers’ Rights and Responsibilities

Genevieve Weems

College of Southern Nevada

September 19, 2017

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Teachers have many rights and responsibilities, as all professionals do. Put forth is a

hypothetical situation in which a teacher was fired. At a predominately black high school both

the principal, Freddie Watts, and the vice principal, Jimmy Brothers, are African-American. Ann

Griffin is a white, tenured teacher at this school. During a heated conversation with the

administrators Ann said she “hated all black folks”. When word leaked out of her statement it

could cause adverse effects among her colleagues. The principal recommended dismissal based

on concerns regarding her ability to treat students fairly and her judgment and competency as a

teacher.

It is possible for a person to be bigoted and not realize it. In June of 2017 a lecturer at the

University of Tennessee lost their job after retaliating at a student’s allegations of the lecturer’s

racism. It started with a quiz on slavery. “One multiple choice question asked about the nature of

African-American families during slavery. Parker chose an answer that said black family bonds

were destroyed by the abuse of slave owners who regularly sold off family members. She got the

question wrong. The answer, according to her teacher, was that most slave families were headed

by two parents” (Ohm 2017). When the student tried to talk to the teacher about the issue, the

teacher flippantly asked if the student just wanted the points back. The student clarified that she

did not appreciate the way this question framed her culture, saying that it diminished the impact

of slavery. The student started a debate on Facebook about the question and found that her

teacher was responding to it, as well as making her own posts on the student. The teacher

maintained that the student had no right to call her racist and threatened to release the student’s

information after the semester was over to defame the student. She also made several demeaning

remarks directed at the student in class.

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The teacher was finally fired after posting a picture to Facebook which had a lude

message which the student believed was directed at her. During the whole ordeal, the teacher

maintained that she was not racist however the student disagreed. "There are things that were

brought up that I don’t think would have been said to a white student, like her suggesting that she

can buy me books that are six dollars," [the student] said. "These are things that while they’re not

slurs that are being thrown around and it’s not the 'N' word, they're things that matter and that

suggest there’s some bias behind why she’s treating me the way she’s treating me" (Ohm 2017).

Whether the teacher was fired for her treatment of the student as a black woman or as simply a

student is uncertain, however it is certain that she did not realize her actions did come from a

place of bigotry.

In a recent case being moved to federal court a St. Paul teacher was sued by the parents

of his students for discrimination. The teacher, Olmsted, resigned after being placed on paid

leave for parents’ complaints. The parents said he called their children “fat, black and stupid”

telling them “you will never amount to anything” (Zhao 2012). But this isn’t the first time he has

been accused of inappropriate behavior. In 2002, he gave a sixth-grade girl a birthday card filled

with sexual innuendos and made her read it in front of her whole class. Olmsted resigned in

March, but was said to be paid until early October. This made parents dissatisfied, especially

since he suffered no disciplinary action due to his resignation. Parents even called the school

regularly, but nothing was done until January. The case ended in a settlement, the details of

which are confidential. This underlying bigotry again led to the end of a teacher’s career.

In 1968 a man named Marvin Pickering wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper. In the

letter, he complained about how the school was run and how his money was sent. He questioned

the effectiveness of the administration of the school. Because of the letter, the school board fired
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Pickering. Pickering then sued the school board. In the case, Pickering won. The court decided

that the letter would be protected under the first amendment. Specifically, this was because the

letter was mostly his opinion, and what was not his opinion, was correct information. This court

case showed that teachers can state their opinion and not lose their job.

Another case of stating someone in schools stating their opinion and getting

repercussions is a case of students from 1965. To protest the Vietnam war the students wore

black wristbands. These students were always sent home. Every day they wore the bands they

would be sent home. Eventually the students sued the school through their parents. They said the

school was taking away their right to express their opinion. The court ruled that the arm bands

represented pure speech. If the armbands did not materially and substantially interfere with the

operation of the school, the teachers could not do anything about them.

If you take a moment to think about Ann’s side of the situation it is possible that this

comment was a mistake. This comment could have come out differently than she intended,

though this would still should an underlying hatred and bigotry, however one that is

nonverbalized. Some may say that it is her first amendment right to speak her opinion, but like

with many laws there are restrictions and one of these restrictions is “…nor may teachers

undermine authority or adversely affect working relationships at the school” (Legal). What she

said would have an adverse effect on her relationship with her principal and vice principal. There

is a possibility that her comment could have been ignored and it would not have affected her

teaching in any way. This seems possible but unlikely, as an inward hatred can manifest itself in

ways the person does not even realize. In the end, I believe the administrators made the right

decision. When a person is bigoted in this way it affects how they behave and how they treat

others, and this would not help her students at all.

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References

Legal, I. U. (n.d.). USLegal. Retrieved September 19, 2017, from

https://education.uslegal.com/teachers/teacher-freedoms-and-rights/freedom-of-
expression/
Ohm, R. (2017, June 19). University of Tennessee lecturer fired after student alleges racism,
retaliation. Retrieved September 19, 2017, from
http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/education/2017/06/19/university-tennessee-
lecturer-fired-after-student-alleges-racism-retaliation/378074001/
Pickering v. Board of Education. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved September 21, 2017, from
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1967/510
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved
September 21, 2017, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/21
Zhao, E. (2012, August 07). Timothy Olmsted, St. Paul Teacher Accused Of Discriminating
Against Black Students, Sees Case Move To Federal Court. Retrieved September 19,
2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/timothy-olmsted-st-paul-
t_n_1749428.html