This paper explores the conceptual history of academic freedom and its emergence as a substantive right that pertains to either the academic or the university. It is suggested that historical reconceptualisations necessitated by contingent circumstance may have led to academic freedom being seen as a form of protection for those working within…

This article describes how different constituencies in a major research university tried to initiate change despite disagreements over common goals, norms and principles. The context was a culture war. The university administration wanted to impose a corporatising and privatising philosophy which it felt was crucial to preserving the university's…

This paper discusses current court rulings on academic freedom at the college and university level. The paper focuses on three cases: "Hall v. Kutztown," in which the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that Kutztown University violated the free speech rights of a philosophy professor when it rejected him…

Discusses a 1984 United States Supreme Court ruling against 20 faculty members not belonging to the Minnesota Community College Faculty Association (MCCFA) who alleged that their right to meet and confer with their employers over employment terms and conditions was violated by MCCFA representation excluding nonunion members. (JBM)

A discussion of sexual harassment on American college campuses focuses on the case of Silva v. University of New Hampshire. The article examines the university's responsibility to protect students from sexual harassment while at the same time protecting freedom of expression. Various examples are presented in an attempt to define sexual…

An analysis of policy documents from six national organizations that promote intellectual and academic freedom for teachers and students supports the need for school systems to develop and articulate guidelines for addressing challenges to instructional methods and materials used in the schools. Recommended actions are discussed. (SM)

Targeted by the "California Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Affairs" in 1946, Frances Eisenberg subsequently was dismissed from the Los Angeles Public School System after 20 years of teaching. In 1947, the "Tenney Committee" introduced eight bills in the California legislature to prevent the teaching of controversial…

This paper is part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002. It discusses teachers' rights to private and public speech. Specifically, it examines the rights of special-education teachers and other special-education professionals to advocate, privately or publicly, on…

Educators in four Canadian provinces were surveyed to determine their knowledge of rights in educational matters. There was considerable self-confessed ignorance among the 1,137 respondents, with only 5 of the 14 questions answered correctly by a majority. Differences in responses of rural and urban educators and teachers from denominational and…

Classroom speech of public-school teachers is a messy subject with regard to the tension between various societal demands and basic rights of students, teachers, and others at school sites. The demands are not always consistent, and rights are subject to different interpretations depending on which court decision forms the underlying basis for a…

The concept of academic freedom originated in situations related to higher education. Although academic freedom may apply to professors, it is far from clear how, and even why, academic freedom applies to classroom K-12 teachers. This paper treats the balancing of teacher and school district rights in suits brought by teachers who claimed that…

The principal is faced with myriad legal issues on a daily basis, making it imperative that he or she keep abreast with developing legal issues. The first of four sections, "Students and the Law," surveys federal statutes and landmark Supreme Court decisions pertaining to the rights of students. It addresses legal issues regarding search and…