Ethical and Legal Issues in

Education
Legal and Ethical Issues that
teachers face.
 Teacher supervisory liability
 Teacher and student freedom of expression
 Teacher personal lifestyle
 Balance between religion and schooling
 Student and teacher freedom of association
 Student punishment
 Student due process rights
 Search and seizure
 Sexual discrimination and harassment
Issues Teacher personal lifestyle
we will
Balance between religion and
focus schooling
on
today Teacher freedom of association
Teacher Personal Lifestyle

• Guiding Principle
 Any behavior that negatively
influences student learning or teacher
effectiveness could be reason for
employment termination
 Teacher Personal Lifestyle

What are teacher allowed

to do outside of school?
 In 2009 a Gwinnett county Georgia teacher turned down
the title of Miss Georgia.
 She worried that it would be too difficult to balance
duties of Miss Georgia and being a teacher.
 According to 1969 Morrison case courts feel like this
teacher would have retained title because it have a
direct connection to teacher’s work (Diamond, 2009)
 Teacher Personal Lifestyle
Can off campus behavior affect
employment?
 The “Hooker Teacher”
 An elementary teacher in the Bronx was fired for
admitting to accepting sexual favors on Craiglist
 Despite Master’s degrees and previous experience the
teacher resigned rather than face termination
 The courts would have upheld decision if behavior was
seen to disgrace profession or impair teacher’s ability to
successfully work in community (Turley, 2012)
 Teacher Personal Lifestyle
Can things posted on social media
affect employment?
 In 2009 a Georgia teacher was forced to resign when a
picture of the teacher holding a drink was posted on
Facebook.
 The teacher was on vacation in Europe at the time
 The school felt like the teacher was promoting alcohol
use
 Court upheld decision because they feel that anyone
who resigns even under pressure can’t be considered
involuntary termination (Downey, 2011)
• Balance between religion and
schooling
• Guiding Principle
Teachers and students can exercise
religious beliefs as long as they don’t
attempt to establish religion on others.
They are also free to abstain from school
activities based on religious beliefs as
long as it doesn’t become disruptive
 Religion and School
Do religious beliefs overide
curriculum?

 Chicago public school teacher refused to teach

kindergarten curriculum because of religious beliefs
 The teacher’s religious beliefs prevented them from
promoting love of country
 Court ruled that teacher’s beliefs must be respected but
that the teacher can’t force beliefs on students by
bypassing parts of curriculum (Schimmel, Stellman, &
Fischer, 2011).
 Religion and School
Can assignments be restricted
because of religion?
 A ninth grade teacher in Tennessee was sued by student
for violation of free speech
 The teacher rejected the students writing assignment
because it was on a religious topic.
 When the student refused to change topic they received
a zero
 The courts ruled that because the teacher had specific
requirements when paper was assigned the teacher had
every right to give student a zero. (Schimmel et al.,
2011).
Religion and School
Can religion have a place
in school?
 A 1971 case determined whether religion could be any
part of a school program
 The Supreme Court developed what they called the
Lemon test to determine constitutionality of religion in
schools.
 Test results is three parts
 1. It must have secular legislative purpose
 2. Primary effect cannot promote or inhibit religion
 3. Can’t promote excessive government involvement
with religion (Schimmel et al., 2011).
• Teacher freedom of association

• Guiding Principle
Teachers can be associated with
organizations as long as there
is no conflict of interest
 Teacher Freedom of Association
Example 1
 A Mississippi teacher was not rehired after eleven years
of teaching
 The teacher had supported a recall petition against
board members and opposed the election of the school
superintendent
 The courts decided that a teacher is protected from
being fired when involved in constitutional activities
(Schimmel et al., 2011).
 Teacher Freedom of Association
Example 2
 Teacher can be passed over for hiring because of
political affiliations
 A Puerto Rican teacher sued because they were not
rehired due to party membership
 The courts didn’t find in the teacher’s favor but did make
a distinction between hiring and rehiring
 The courts found that it was not unconstitutional to deny
initial employment based on political affiliations but not
constitutional to refuse reemployment for the same
reasons. (Schimmel et al., 2011).
 Teacher Freedom of Association
Example
 Freedom of association 3 teachers from
doesn’t protect
online communications with students
 In 2009 a Connecticut high school teacher was not
rehired after inappropriate conversations with a student
on MySpace
 Teacher sued stating that this was a violation of freedom
of association
 Courts determined that freedom of association was only
protected when association involved a public matter but
that MySpace didn’t count as public concern.
 Students involved in the same activity
would face suspension. (Schimmel et al.,
2011).
 Ethical Boundary
Teachers, students and parents
relationship’s must maintain the
integrity of the school program
Any activity or behavior that
has an adverse affect on
student success must be
avoided.
References
 Diamond, L. (2009, June 29). Can teachers have lives
outside of school?. Get Schooled RSS. Retrieved July 7,
2014, from http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-
blog/2009/06/29/can%E2%80%99t-teachers-have-lives-
outside-of-school/
 Downey, M. (2011, October 10). Court rules against Ashley
Payne in Facebook case. But more to come.. Get Schooled
RSS. Retrieved July 7, 2014, from http://blogs.ajc.com/get-
schooled-blog/2011/10/10/court-rules-against-ashley-
payne-in-facebook-case/
 Fischer, L., Schimmel, D., & Kelly, C. A. (2011). Teachers
and the law (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
 Turley, J. (2012, April 2). Teachers Under A Morality
Microscope. JONATHAN TURLEY. Retrieved July 7, 2014,
from http://jonathanturley.org/2012/04/02/teachers-under-
a-microscope/