Education policy often requires balancing the professional interests of adult employees with the educational needs and rights of students. Nearly everyone agrees, for example, that children deserve an education that prepares them for success in college and life, and that teachers should be afforded reasonable job protections. Yet these values and…

Teacher tenure rights, first established more than a century ago, are under unprecedented attack. Tenure--which was enacted to protect students' education and those who provide it--is under assault from coast to coast, in state legislatures, in state courtrooms, and in the media. In June 2014, in the case of "Vergara v. California," a…

A discussion of the transmission and prevention of hepatitis B focuses on implications of the disease for special educators, including maintaining confidentiality, providing education in the least restrictive environment, curriculum modifications in related behavioral/social areas, and personal risk. Relevant administrative and legal questions are…

The Connick vs. Myers Supreme Court decision regarding public employees' right to express themselves has been applied to public schools in two recent federal court cases. The rulings suggest school boards may discipline school employees for disputes over internal office matters but must tolerate their dissent over public matters. (DCS)

Dismissing a teacher for insubordination is usually acceptable to the courts when the teacher willfully defies reasonable and specific regulations and orders despite repeated and clear directives that such behavior must cease. (PGD)

The peer review system for evaluating schools (the "Toledo Plan") is gaining favor among teachers in other school systems. Schools are generally reluctant to dismiss incompetent teachers because of documentation complexities, but incompetent teachers should nevertheless be weeded out. (TE)

Reviews the controversy of teaching evolution and creationism in public schools from the early years of the twentieth century until today. Identifies two stages of the legal challenges to the teaching of evolution. Contends that academic freedom issues may provide another avenue to the Supreme Court for those supporting creationism. (CFR)

Although school boards have the authority to order a teacher to undergo a medical examination, the board's concern should be only with the teacher's fitness. Policy guidelines are offered that protect a teacher's right to due process. (MLF)

The practitioner advising a school board in connection with a reduction in force can appreciate that the board has great flexibility in implementing its decision. As long as the board's actions are not arbitrary, capricious, or pretextual, and they afford minimal due process protections to tenured teachers, the board's decisions will withstand…

The First Amendment free speech right is one of the most frequently asserted constitutional challenges to dismissal or discipline of a school district employee. In any employee's claim of violation of free speech right by a public employer, a threefold process of review should be made: (1) Was the conduct in question constitutionally protected in…

A review of court decisions about teacher testing programs shows that tests must be equitable and fair, must not be used to discriminate by race or sex, and that adequate notice to teachers is required. (MLF)

Litigation by nontenured teachers in contract nonrenewal disputes usually involves claims of violation of speech, liberty, contractual, or privacy rights. School boards should be certain that the cause for nonrenewal of a probationary teacher's contract is not in violation of a protected right. (MLF)

Any restrictions on student dress must have a legitimate educational rationale. Standards of attire for school employees are also permissible. A dress-code policy that calls for reasonable restrictions and is enforced with common sense can create a better school environment. Restrictive measures can lead to costly lawsuits. Cites advantages of…

Case citations from federal and state court decisions concerning freedom of speech in schools are organized in five major sections with brief summaries of relevant cases in subcategories followed by a table of cases cited. The major sections are as follows: (1) "Employees' Freedom of Expression: Academic Issues" (Virginia Davis Nordin);…

Tenured teaching staff member in New Jersey cannot be dismissed from their positions unless a board of education establishes just cause in a hearing before the Commissioner of Education. This pamphlet, designed to assist boards in filing dismissal proceedings for unsatisfactory tenured teachers, provides a comprehensive review of all recent tenure…