Chapter 12 - Teachers, Students, and The Law

Chapter 12 - Teachers, Students, and The Law

PART 1:​

Terms and Conditions of Teacher Employment

To qualify for most professional teaching, administrative, and other positions in the public schools, an individual must acquire a certificate or license.

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: States may impose a requirement that its teachers are US citizens.

• True

• False

​This does not mean that teachers must be citizens, only that the state may impose such a requirement if it can demonstrate a legitimate state interest in it. In Ambach v. Norwick, 1979, it was argued that the interest was the important “role that teachers play in developing students’ attitude toward government and understanding the role of citizens in our society."

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: Local School Boards may impose a requirement that its teachers live within the boundaries of the school district.

• True

• False

Although residency requirements have been upheld in many jurisdictions, a number of states have statutory provisions prohibiting school districts from imposing such requirements.

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: Local School Boards may release or reassign employees with health issues (failing eyesight, hearing, or other physical or mental conditions)

• True

• False

​Although the courts have upheld school districts’ imposition of health and physical requirements, they are concerned that such requirements not be arbitrarily applied, be specific to the position, and not violate state and federal laws intended to protect the rights of people with disabilities.

• ​Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• ​Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Multiple Choice

Which would NOT be required in a standard Employment Contract?

• Offer and Acceptance

• Compensation Details

• Guarantee of Renewal

• Employee Rights and Obligations

Multiple Choice

Who legally and officially is offering the contract to the teacher?

• School Board

• Superintendent

• Principal of the School

• The Teacher's Union

• ​Most state statutes specify the requirements and procedures for obtaining tenure, which normally include the satisfactory completion of a probationary period of three years of regular and continuous teaching service.

• ​Satisfactory completion of the probationary period does not guarantee tenure.

• ​The granting of tenure does not guarantee the right to teach in a particular school, grade level, or subject area.

• ​Tenure status gives teachers the security of practicing their profession without threat of removal for arbitrary, capricious, or political motivations.

Multiple Choice

Which is NOT a valid reason for Teacher Dismissal?

• Immorality

• Insubordination

• Incompetency

• Invisibility

Immorality​

​(1) sexual conduct with students;

(2) same-sex sexual orientation; (WHAT?!?!?!)

(3) making sexually explicit remarks or talking about sexually related topics unrelated to the curriculum;

(4) distribution of sexually explicit materials to classes;

(5) use of obscene, profane, or abusive language;

(6) public lewdness;

(7) possession and use of controlled substances;

(8) other criminal misconduct;

(9) dishonesty

Immorality​

​Typical factors to be considered in determining if the alleged conduct renders a teacher unfit to teach. These factors include

(1) the age and maturity of the teacher’s students,

(2) the likelihood that the teacher’s conduct will have an adverse effect on students or other teachers,

(3) the degree of anticipated adversity,

(4) the proximity of the conduct,

(5) any extenuating or aggravating circumstances surrounding the conduct, (6) the likelihood that the conduct would be repeated,

(7) any underlying motives

Insubordination​

• ...involves the persistent, willful, and deliberate violation of a reasonable rule or direct order from a recognized authority.

• ​In cases involving insubordination, it is not necessary to establish a relationship between the insubordinate action(s) and teaching effectiveness.

Incompetency​

(1) inadequate teaching

(2) lack of knowledge of the subject matter

(3) unreasonable discipline or failure to maintain classroom discipline

(4) failure to work effectively with colleagues, supervisors, or parents

(5) physical or mental incapacity

(6) willful neglect of duty

PART 2:​

Teacher Rights

Multiple Select

Which of the following constitutional rights have courts usually granted to teachers? (Select all that apply)

• Procedural Due Process

• Freedom of Expression

• Right to Associate

• Academic Freedom

• Right to Privacy

• ​Procedural Due Process: Board Hearing, for example (Tenured only)

• ​Freedom of Expression: Unless the public expression undermines the effectiveness of the working relationship between the teacher and the teacher’s superior or coworkers, the employee’s ability to perform assigned duties, or the orderly operation of the schools.

• ​Right to Associate: The associational rights of teachers include the right to belong to political organizations, religious or social organizations, and a union or professional association

• ​Academic Freedom: Academic freedom refers to the teacher’s freedom to discuss the subject matter discipline and to determine the most appropriate instructional materials and methodology

• ​Right to Privacy: Illegal search and seizure

​Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action

Open Ended

What do think about Portland's Affirmative Action plan for hiring more minority teachers? Do you think it's a good idea? Why or Why not?

PART 3:​

Legal Responsibilities

of Teachers

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: Teachers can get released and could even be required to pay monetary damages if the neglect to report suspected child abuse.

• True

• False

• All states have enacted statutes requiring teachers to report actual or suspected child abuse and neglect immediately upon gaining knowledge or suspicion of the abuse or neglect.

• A civil suit claiming negligence also may be brought against the teacher for failure to report child abuse. In addition, school districts may take disciplinary measures, including dismissal, against employees for failure to follow required reporting statutes.

• ​Under all state statutes, school employees who report suspected child abuse or neglect are immune from civil and criminal prosecution if the report was made in good faith.

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: The Fair Use Doctrine allows teachers to copy and use certain materials for the classroom without permission of the copyright owner.

• True

• False

​The Fair Use Doctrine allows teachers to copy and use certain materials for the classroom without permission of the copyright owner if each copy bears the copyright notice and meets the tests of brevity, spontaneity, and the cumulative effect on the potential market of the copyrighted work.

Open Ended

Use your Google skills to find out if it is a copyright violation for teachers to show YouTube videos in class. (Include your source.)

PART 4:​

Tort Liability of School District Employees

Multiple Choice

A "tort" is defined as a....

• A legal responsibility

• A delicious pastry food item

• Civil wrong that leads to personal injury or property damage

• A legal means for a teacher to sue a school board

• ​A tort is defined as a civil wrong that leads to personal injury or property damage (criminal wrongs are not torts) and for which a court will provide a remedy in the form of an action for damages.

• ​The most common category of torts in education is negligence.

​

Multiple Choice

School officials legally stand “in loco parentis” in their relationship with students. “In loco parentis” is latin for....

• in place of parents

• crazy parents

• large and in charge

• in another village

​Standard of Care and Duty

​Educational Malpractice

​Teachers have a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect the children in their care.

• ​Reasonableness Doctrine

• ​Foreseeable Doctrine

• ​Proximate Cause

Two kinds of educational malpractice suits: (1) instructional malpractice suits concerned with students who have received certificates or diplomas and have actually failed to learn and (2) professional malpractice suits involving misdiagnosis, improper advising, or improper educational placement.

PART 5:​

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Multiple Choice

The difference between student suspension and student expulsion from school is the number of days for which the student is removed. What number is the generally accepted threshold?

• Three

• Seven

• Five

• Ten

​Student Discipline

​Suspensions and Expulsions

• ​Before any expulsion can take place, a student must be given a formal hearing before the school board.

• ​The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that for short-term suspensions of fewer than 10 days, the student need be given only oral or written notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence, and the opportunity to rebut the charges before an objective decision maker.

Multiple Choice

Which amendment to the US Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment"?

• 1st

• 8th

• 4th

• 5th

​Corporal Punishment

• ​Supreme Court has said that corporal punishment is not prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

• ​Corporal punishment that is "unreasonable" has been found to be in violation of a student's rights

• ​The determination of reasonableness includes a consideration of the nature of the infraction; the past record of the student; the age, gender, and physical and mental condition of the student

Multiple Choice

Which amendment to the US Constitution protects against illegal search and seizure?

• 1st

• 8th

• 4th

• 5th

Search and Seizure

School officials may conduct a warrantless search if it passes the two-pronged “reasonableness test”:

• (1) is the search justified at its inception (reasonable cause)

• (2) the scope of the search is reasonably related to the objective of the search and is not “excessively intrusive”

​Controversial Court Cases:

• Strip Search

• Drug Testing

• Cell Phone Inspection

Multiple Choice

Which amendment to the US Constitution protects our freedom of expression?

• 1st

• 8th

• 4th

• 5th

Students' Freedom of Expression

• ​The Court ruled that students have freedom of speech or expression so long as the exercise of this freedom does not cause “material disruption,” “substantial disorder,” or invade the rights of others.

• ​Freedom of expression does not include the right to use vulgar and offensive speech, even if it does not cause disruption

• The right to free expression extends to the right to publish and distribute literature published both on and off campus

• ​The courts have upheld the authority of schools to adopt reasonable dress codes designed to prohibit dress that violates health and safety standards, displays vulgar or obscene language, or hate speech, or other dress presenting a disruption to the school environment.

PART 6:​

Sexual Harassment of Teachers and Students

​Two main categories of sexual harassment

• ​Quid Pro Quo

• ​Hostile Environment

​

• ​The overwhelming majority of the student sexual harassment that occurs in the schools is student-to-student sexual harassment.

• ​Sexual harassment of students is not limited to the classroom.

Open Ended

In summary, write a few sentences explaining why you think it is important for teachers to be aware of the legal issues surrounding their profession.