Based on a recent Supreme Court decision which allows schools to censor school-sponsored newspapers, this article offers guidelines to avoid legal challenges in this area. Questions raised by the decision regarding the extent to which school authorities may censor student newspapers and the amount of judicial interference in curriculum matters are…

This synthesis of current attitudes on academic freedom as defined by lower court and Supreme Court cases describes the (1) framework in which academic freedom operates, (2) powers and limitations of state legislatures and school officials in defining the curriculum and setting policy, (3) rights and limitations of teachers in making curricular…

Notes that the principles of academic freedom are not well established and that standards are difficult to define for judging individual cases of conflict. Reviews cases which demonstrate how difficult it is to draw the line between the rights of parents and the school board and the rights of teachers and students. (JDH)

Summarizes major court cases that have provided some sense of the extent to which teachers may legitimately select course content and teaching methods. (RBW)

This article reviews recent threats to academic freedom and examines the tendencies which either undermine or bolster the individual's willingness to exercise that freedom. Concludes that those who would curtail academic freedom are receiving support from a conservative federal judiciary and a national administration that identifies closely with…

Discusses an unsuccessful lawsuit brought by Margaret Boring, an acclaimed high school drama teacher in Buncombe County, North Carolina. She was transferred to a middle school for allegedly violating the school's "controversial materials" policy after students performed an expurgated version of Lee Blessing's "Independence."…

This article investigates the uncertain history of academic freedom in public schools, from the viewpoint of the courts' understanding and related commentaries. Also considered is the magnitude of teachers' classroom discretion, and whether courts are likely to treat content and pedagogical conflicts differently. (IAH)

Before 1980, academic-freedom litigation favored teachers over school boards. As a 1998 case involving termination of a popular creative-writing teacher shows, today's judges rely on decision makers' judgement. Courts view academic freedom as the province of school boards and administrators, who determine how it is exercised. (MLH)

Both freedom of speech and freedom from discrimination are generally accepted expressions of public policy. The application of these policies, however, leads to conflicts that pose both practical and conceptual problems. This paper presents a review of court litigation and addresses the question of how to reconcile the conflicting societal goals…

Contains a summary of the events leading to the firing of teacher Cissy Lacks and her successful court battle to win her job back with compensations. Presents Lacks' own reflections on censorship, discrimination, tenure, publicity, legal representation, and constitutional issues. (TB)

Disagreements over teachers' First Amendment, academic-freedom rights in curricular contexts are again receiving judicial attention. Two federal cases involving termination of exemplary high-school drama and creative-writing teachers have upheld school boards' authority to control curriculum context in disagreements over permissable subject matter…

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the explicit approval of the Pope, declared that the Reverend Charles E. Curran was neither suitable nor eligible to teach Catholic Theology at The Catholic University of America. A report by the American Association of University Professors is presented. (MLW)

School board members from 50 states have in common the United States Constitution and the legal principles announced by the federal courts in response to that Constitution. New board members are usually concerned with the rights of teachers, parents, and students. Starting with student rights, student conduct that involves freedom of expression…

The five chapters of this book on teachers' need and responsibility to prepare themselves for criticisms and attacks on their teaching methods and materials deal with the scope of censorship issues, the significance of academic freedom, recent judicial rulings, school-community tensions, and case studies of censorship cases. The first chapter,…

A recent Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals decision stipulates that a school board may regulate "employe expression" only in rare circumstances--to prevent, for example, serious disruption of school activities--and only where the board has allowed for a timely review of the superintendent's decisions about distributing…