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…

Describes classrooms and schools as a culture of power that mirror society's unjust social relations. Investigates the questions: (1) is it ever justified to use power to interrupt power?; and (2) does all silencing subjugate? Outlines arguments for and against censorship of teachers who believe that portraying homosexual lifestyles positively…

Addresses Barbara Applebaum's argument that speech acts reproduce power. Argues that Applebaum's focus on utterances and expressions of belief is too narrow because it leaves out silence, particularly about sexual orientation in school curricula. Describes silence as a speech act that promotes harm just as powerfully as other speech acts. (CAJ)

The focus of this chapter is on the substantive constitutional protections of the public school employment relationship guaranteed by the First Amendment, particularly freedom of speech, and by the Fourteenth Amendment's right to privacy. Included are burden-of-proof standards required for establishing a prima facie case of denial of these…

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…

Court litigation and decisions concerning the conflict between first amendment rights of free speech for United States citizens and the rights of controversial international figures, invited by college faculty to speak on campus, are discussed and compared. (MSE)

Examines two related issues: the right of teachers to select instructional materials and to select instructional methods. Court decisions indicate that materials and methods must have educational value, relevance, and suitability to the age and maturity of the students. Prior administrative approval, while not necessarily required, is beneficial.…

Describes how a last issue of the school newspaper carrying senior class wills offended some faculty members and how the issue of censorship was raised and dealt with. (CRH)

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…

This volume of seminar presentations covers a broad range of legal issues affecting public schools. The first chapter summarizes employee free speech developments since "Connick v. Myers" (1983), a United States Supreme Court decision upholding a district attorney's right to dismiss a transferred assistant for circulating a controversial…

At least 17 university faculty members have been the direct objects of unfavorable public commentary by the conservative organization Accuracy in Academia, Inc (AIA). Two case studies that have received much attention involve two political science professors: Dr. Terry Anderson of Texas A & M University, and Dr. Mark Reader of Arizona State…

Argues that parents and special interest groups should not be allowed to ban books from school libraries. States that an uncensored school library contributes to freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom to understand other cultures, and freedom to examine controversial issues. Notes that these freedoms contribute to helping children become…

The Supreme Court ordered a lower court to reexamine the free-speech case of a controversial City University of New York black studies professor, demoted from department chairman for making racially biased statements seen as disruptive. The rights of public universities to make such decisions was a central issue. (MSE)

In a lawsuit brought by six Virginia public university professors, a federal district court ruled that access to Internet material for academic purposes was a matter of public concern and that plaintiffs' interest in that material outweighed the state's regulating interests. The Fourth Circuit's reversal gave the state extensive authority over…

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…