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."…

Discusses a 2000 federal trial court decision upholding a Kentucky district's termination of a tenured teacher who presented a curricular segment on industrial hemp as part of a "save-the-trees" unit. The decision underscores teachers' severely limited constitutional rights in the curricular context. (MLH)

Teachers and other public employees enjoy the same fundamental rights as other citizens. They are entitled to free speech--though the privilege is not limitless--and to due process and equal protection under the law. (Author/DCS)

Reviews some legal and procedural guidelines pertaining to freedom of expression and due process in how teachers and administrators handle student verbal or symbolic threats. Reviews school cases related to freedom of expression, written expression, verbal or written expression off school property, and Internet expression. Offers recommendations…

The government is a special employer that operates under the guidelines of the United States Constitution. Under these guidelines, government may not, without adequate justification, (1) deprive its citizens of fundamental, protected rights such as the freedoms of speech and association; (2) deprive a citizen of property or liberty without the due…

In problems pertaining to faculty dismissal, public higher education institutions are subject to both constitutional and contractual constraints, whereas private schools are subject almost solely to self-imposed contractual limitations. In public institutions, teachers alleging termination for protected free speech bear the burden of establishing…

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 argues that courts have tended to identify and enforce individual rights at the expense, in many instances, of the ability of school boards and legislatures to carry out what they perceive to be the will of the majority of voters in their jurisdictions. The trend emphasizing individual rights began in 1954 with the Supreme Court…

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…

This is the ninth in the series of monographs designed to summarize and analyze judicial decisions on elementary and secondary education issues. The cases under discussion (found in federal and regional reporters from June 30, 1986, to June 30, 1987) were selected on the basis of their relevance to contemporary problems in public school settings,…

This book is about teachers and the laws that affect them. New to this sixth edition are new court cases and a chapter that highlights likely controversies in the coming years, including school choice, high-stakes testing, control of the Internet, and gang clothing. The book is divided into two parts. Part I, "The Legal Aspects of Teaching,"…

This annual monograph contains summaries of court decisions found in federal and regional reports during the period from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002. These cases provide a general overview of school law issues for practicing administrators, teachers, and school board members. This edition contains updates of cases previously decided, either at…

This casebook contains excerpts of 86 legal decisions handed down by appellate courts during 1985-95. The book was developed to inform school administrators about recent legal decisions in educational matters. In the area of general administration, cases cover issues of central governance, attendance, church/state relationship, curriculum, and…

During the Cold War era, when many institutions of higher learning sacrificed faculty in the face of political pressure, the Owen Lattimore case represents a situation where university administrators stood firm. This book explores what happened when pressure was put on Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) to punish a faculty member who expressed…

The application of constitutional doctrines to controversies involving higher education institutions and legal theories emanating from the Supreme Court are discussed. The historical review covers academic freedom at colleges, or freedom from political interference of of outside intervention: freedom of speech or association in colleges and…