Teachers Rights

• After reading the summary of the Pickering case I feel I now have a better understanding of teachers role in society. When it comes to day to day teaching, we have a responsibility to teach our students the subject at hand and not to promote our own agenda, but when it comes to our role as citizens we have the same responsibilities and freedoms as every other citizen. We have a right to make criticism where due. In Lusk v. Estes the court found that "It can no longer be seriously asserted that teachers have no right to criticize their employers." Importantly it should also be noted that all criticism must be factual. "The Court holds that truthful statements by a school teacher critical of the school board are within the ambit of the First Amendment." The Anderson v. Evans case illustrates the point that once personal opinion effects the ability of a teacher to do their job then it is perfectly within the right of the administrators to terminate the contract after using due process. The concerns of the students and effectively teaching them are of the the first priority and I believe that in all three cases the best interests of the students where, in the end, upheld.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16997195768089298466&q=Pickering+(%2768)&hl=en&as_sdt=2,38&as_vis=1

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11107047644793673149&q=Lusk+v.+Estes+(%2773)&hl=en&as_sdt=2,38&as_vis=1