The authors' recent study of all published decisions in state and federal courts concerning superintendent termination led to a surprising finding: The decisions overwhelmingly favored school districts. In this article, the authors examine several superintendents' intriguing cases. The authors also discuss practical lessons for superintendents.

Provides school executives with due process information concerning termination of school personnel, including teachers. Outlines the usual reasons for termination, ranging from reduction in force to wrongdoing on the job, and explains the burden of proof resting on the employer. (MLH)

Making reference to concepts grounded in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, this document lists substantive and procedural due process requirements regarding employee termination that administrators must take pains to implement. Justifiable reasons for termination are identified. School administrators have the burden of…

The authority of the First Amendment may transcend the strictures of its original wording, which limits it to proscriptions of federal government suppression of speech. Attempts by some courts to extend First Amendment authority to the workplace is clearly related to the growing criticism of unrestrained managerial dismissal power. The first major…

Discusses the "Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill" case, in which a security guard was dismissed for dishonestly completing an application without a chance to answer the charge or challenge his dismissal. Examines the United States Supreme Court ruling, immediate due process implications, unanswered questions, and lower court…

Application of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to dismissal of public employees has become clarified through such recent federal court litigation as "Loudermill v. Cleveland Board of Education" in 1981, which followed the Supreme Court precedent set in 1972 in "Board of Regents v. Roth." The threshold…