Teachers' Rights in Schools

Every American citizen’s basic rights are protected by The Bill of Rights, however do these same rights apply to students of public schools? Students attending public schools are not protected by the rights guaranteed by the bill of rights. Aspects of the first amendment, fourth amendment, and eighth amendment do not apply to public schools. American citizen’s right of freedom of expression is a very import part of The Bill of Rights and is deprived of many students in public schools.

Academic tenure has allowed under-performing teachers the privilege of keeping their job no matter what. Some feel that they do not have to properly teach after they have earned tenure. Students do not get a proper education because of this and teachers cannot be fired because of the job security that tenure has granted them. Brian

Removing a teacher from his or her position is very difficult to do. “Tenure benefits the state by helping to create a permanent and qualified teaching force” (Underwood, Webb 36). This makes it difficult to let a teacher go even when it is to make the school a better environment for the students. Although teachers do have the right to freedom of speech and are able to exercise their First Amendment right, that freedom is in a way limited by the school board. Pickering v. Board of Education (1968) is a great example of this. A high school science teacher was terminated by the board of education because a letter he wrote was published in one of the community’s newspapers. The letter discussed the unequal funding between academics and athletics. After

As documented in the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” written by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta lived her childhood in the segregated rural south. There was no real inspiration for her to attend school, much less develop a strong interest in getting a formal education. Segregation contributed to a cycle of oppression and poverty that affected Henrietta’s knowledge, and quality of life. The unfair early education laws, impaired all black children’s potential to learn, and negatively affected their confidence. America has laws that intend on producing, equal education for all children regardless of economic circumstances, race, religion, or academic ability level. On the other hand, a studied by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, find that “public school, especially in the south, is becoming re-segregated at a surprising level.”(Hancock Jones) Today there is evidence that suggest public education still needs equal protection reform in order to give all children a high quality education.

Webster's dictionary defines tenure as, “the act, right, manner, or term, of holding something (such as a landed property, a position, or an office); especially :a status granted after a trial period to a teacher that gives protection from summary dismissal. In other words, educators receive due process protection from accusations or charges against them.Years ago, educators who acted in destructive and abusive demeanor sidestep meaningful ramifications due to tenure safeguards .However, the supreme protection granted to tenured teachers diminished greatly as of July 2011. Michigan stripped the unassailable security of tenure and the world of education in Michigan altered permanently.Forlornly, educator Kathleen Goulouze failed to adhere to modifications of the updated teacher tenure decree.

A public school in New York during the start of each school day started with the Pledge of Allegiance and followed by a nondenominational prayer. The New York state law also allowed students to skip the prayer if found offensive. A parent of a student attending this school sued deeming the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Supreme Courts majority rule (8-1) claimed YES the public school sponsored prayer violates Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, even with allowing students to skip the prayer, it was still considered unconstitutional. This case is important because Chief Justice, Earl Warren states that school sanctioned prayers, including any type of public promotion of religion, violates the Establishment

As the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech to all Americans, there needs to be some sort of limit on when students go overboard. There are many different types of speech in which it can cause disruptions in the classroom when teachers and students state their own opinions that don’t always go with what the others agree with. Things such as the place of where they speak these things are affective to whether their claims are legal or illegal on any school campus. When students cause a disruption, even across the street from a school supervised event while promoting illegal drug use like Joseph Frederick did, it needs to be stopped as soon as possible whether it goes against the freedom of a student's speech or not.

Students don't have the same First Amendment rights they have in the public compared to school. Four major cases were brought to the Supreme Court concerning students' First Amendment, Tinker , Fraser, Hazelwood, and Morse. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Only one ruled in favor of the student that being the first one, Tinker which set the stage for the rest. Students' First Amendment rights have changed since Tinker expanded upon students' right to being constricted because

cause. The students First Amendment rights will not be violated if the school doesn’t allow the

In our new world of technology, substance abuse, mental health, and sexual practices are being discussed in the news, television, radio, social media and even in school. Parents cannot control what their children are learning outside their home as well as what is being taught in school. Hence, the law provides the rights of parents and student that governs sensitive topics that are being conducted in school. The “Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U>S>C $ 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98) was enacted in 1978, and applies to student surveys, instructional materials or evaluations funded by the federal government that deal with highly sensitive issues.” Under the (PPRA), “Parents have the right of written consent

Today we learned about the legal rights of student bloggers. Public School Students have the First Amendment rights, and according to the Supreme Court, public school students don't "shed their constitutional right to freedom of speech or expression at the school gate." People who go to private school also have the First Amendment rights, but those rights only protect them from the government censorship, not private censorship. Which means your freedom of speech is only protected from the government and it is not protected from the private school you attend. Remember a public school can censor or punish students' on-campus speech. Although the Tinker decision recognized that students have free speech rights on campus, the court also held that

The ability of teachers to earn tenure has sparked debate for many years. Whether it is an individual who is for or against teacher tenure, both sides present valid points. First, teacher tenure was established to provide security for teachers and prevent them from being fired for political reasons, personal reasons, non-work related reasons, or to hire new teachers at a lower salary to replace veteran teachers. Challengers to the teacher tenure law argue that it makes teachers complacent, and inhibits schools abilities to get rid of bad teachers. Tenure does not actually make it impossible to fire a teacher who has earned tenure or what is called a non-probationary status. It does however create a costly and lengthy process for dismissing a tenured teacher if the school system cannot prove that the individual has engaged in certain acts.

Richard Kahlenberg, the author of the article Tenure said that tenure was to protect students’ education and those who provide it. He goes on to say that before we can start digging into tenure we should first define what it is. Tenure, for American teachers is awarded after three years, and when it is awarded they have the right to know why a discharge is being sought out by the employer. They also have the right to have the issue decided by an impartial person. Kahlenberg listed why tenure is still necessary, some of them being; it strengthens legal protections, protects a range of people who may be discriminated against that the race and gender antidiscrimination laws do not, and tenure gives teachers the confidence to stand up to outsiders

It’s the lives of the children now that are being changed, not the ones who have already been through school with standard teachers. They are not getting the proper education they deserve because teachers are not putting in the effort it takes to teach them. They simply do what they absolutely have to to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Going above and beyond is obviously too much work… Even if it means many children grow up barely understanding anything they have learned because their teachers are not willing to work extra with them. Kids come to school to learn; not be ignored and brushed off by unfocused teachers. Usually a teacher has to work 1 or more years to receive tenure, depending on which state they live in, but why should they only try for the first few years of their jobs only to stop caring after they have gotten what they wanted? Tenure should not be given to anyone… Not when it can easily sacrifice a child’s education. Not to mention how unfair it is to teachers who are actually working hard and succeeding in their

Some argue that tenure allows bad teachers to stay in the classroom. Teachers that are just there to put in their time and don't really care about the students themselves. They feel that granting teachers tenure encourages them to become complacent about their jobs. “Tenures are something that can be beneficial to students, as well. By providing job security, teachers can concentrate on teaching, instead of worrying about overly obsessed parents coming after them. Take for instance, a parent getting a coach fired because they did not give their son or daughter enough play time on the court. There is the classic scenario of parents that will look for a teacher's flaws in teaching before they look for flaws in their child as a student.”(Sharifi)