As the most unionized segment of the public sector workforce in the USA, teachers and their bargaining representatives wield significant power in the world of educational labour relations and beyond. Yet, just as the First Amendment's freedom of association clause affords unions the right to exist, its concomitant recognition that employees are…

The judicial trend is against according broad First Amendment protection for teacher grievants. Administrators who do not support legitimate labor activity, however, may experience teacher retaliation. (CJH)

A recent Supreme Court decision on a First Amendment case involving a teacher in Texas illustrates how teachers' and other public employees' rights to freedom of speech face serious erosion. The problem is deciding whether grievances fall into the protected area of "public concern" or the unprotected area of a "purely private…

In "Connick vs. Myers" the Supreme Court applied a threshold requirement to an employee's First Amendment protection of free speech: speech must be related to public concerns as determined by the content, form, and context of a given statement. Discusses applications of this decision to lower court cases. (MLF)

These legal documents and discussions represent a variety of litigations concerning state statutes and federal regulations. Part A, "Preventing a Law Suit," offers suggestions for avoiding employee termination lawsuits and presents documents for teacher evaluation and for teacher termination and grievance hearings. "New and Emerging…