Legal Aspects of Education

You are going to consider several educational dilemmas that have legal ramifications. You will write a short reaction  regarding each assigned vignette, making sure that you support your assertions with information from Chapter 9. Next, please respond to a fellow classmates reaction.All reactions are due by April 8, 2014. Click on comment on each vignette to add your reaction. Please be sure to add your name before adding your comment.

Search and Seizure

I’m a parent of a thirteen-year-old girl who is a seventh grader in an urban middle school. Everyone knows that there are a lot of drugs in that school, and I've been just worried to death about it. I recently joined a group of parents and teachers who have begun to meet to discuss the problem to see if there’s anything we can do to address this problem. Well, last week after lunch the janitor found a bag of stuff in the girls’ rest room that turned out to be an illegal substance, and a teacher heard a student say that several seventh-grade girls at the school had drugs on them that day. The principal called in the police, and they had dogs sniff all the lockers. Then they rounded up all the seventh-grade girls, and two female police officers strip-searched them one at a time in the nurse’s room. My daughter is very shy and introverted, and this has been so traumatic for her. Now she refuses to go to school. I’m as concerned about the drug problem as anyone, but I don’t think this should ever have happened to my daughter. Did the principal and the police have the right to organize this search? If I sue for damages, am I likely to win?

Freedom of Expression

I am a tenured middle school social studies teacher. I have a strong sense of civic responsibility, which I think is important for me to model for my students. When our district’s superintendent made a policy decision recently that I felt violated the rights of teachers, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper opposing his decision. My public criticism of the superintendent caused quite a stir in our small community and led to a disruptive controversy among teachers, administrators, students, and parents. The result of the whole thing is that I've been fired for my actions. I feel that I am being punished for exercising my First Amendment right to free expression. I’m proud that my letter sparked a public debate about this important issue; I think I should be thanked, not fired. If I sue to get my job back, am I likely to win?

Employment Contracts and Tenure

I am a second-year teacher still in my probationary period. The terms of my employment called for me to be awarded tenure upon the successful completion of my third year of teaching. However, I have been informed that my contract will not be renewed for next year. I was given no reason or explanation for my dismissal; due process procedures were not followed. This situation has me a nervous wreck. I have to have a job next year to support myself. If I take my school district to court, am I likely to get my job back?