This paper considers recent state and federal court decisions regarding the private lives of teachers. It discusses in detail cases involving homosexuality, which are the most controversial, and cases involving heterosexuality. Also discussed are cases involving teacher relationships with minor students, nonsexual immorality, drug-related…

The author's ten commandments are intended to provide teachers with significant general guidelines for use in the classroom. The areas covered include worship in the classroom, academic freedom, corporal punishment, slander and libel, and student safety. (IRT)

Reviews several factors affecting whether the dismissal of a teacher for immoral conduct will withstand court scrutiny. These factors center on the conduct's impact on the teacher's ability to teach effectively and include the conduct's context, the teacher's history and motives, and the effects of disciplinary responses to the conduct. (PGD)

Examines the case of Thompson v Southwest School District in which a teacher was dismissed for allegedly immoral behavior. The court found that the behavior did not have a deleterious impact on the teacher's ability to teach. (IRT)

The author answers some of the central questions--legal and pedagogical--relating to the use of corporal punishment by teachers. He presents guidelines on corporal punishment which can reduce the likelihood of liability, but suggests, given the potential for lawsuits, that teachers adopt alternative forms of discipline. (Author/SJL)

Explores the exemplar and nexus arguments structuring the debate on acceptable teacher conduct outside the classroom. The exemplar argument holds teachers to a mandatory role model standard. The nexus argument views teachers' private acts as protected unless job performance is affected. While nexus (via court litigation) has protected teachers'…

Focuses on teacher dismissal for either indictment or conviction under state criminal statutes for crimes such as possession of a controlled substance, theft, embezzlement, public intoxication, and bribery. (MLF)

In a case involving a somewhat sarcastic elementary teacher, a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reversed the state commissioner of education's affirmation of her dismissal based on persistent negligence. Results of teachers' alleged verbal abuse of students depends on the nature of the claim, not just specific evidence. (MLH)

According to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, a teacher sentenced to probation as a first offender for residing in an apartment where marijuana was grown and used was improperly dismissed from her teaching position despite a state law protecting first offenders, but remained subject to dismissal for misconduct. (PGD)

This paper discusses court cases that are a legal basis for screening programs for teacher education. The Supreme Court case of Adler v. Board of Education established that the states do have the power to set up requirements or rules concerning the quality of moral character in applicants for teaching certificates. Vogulkin v. State Board of…

Describes a complex court case involving a Massachusetts elementary teacher whose contract was not renewed because she was cohabiting with a suspected (but eventually exonerated) child abuser. School officials should resist the knee-jerk reaction to terminate a teacher's contract on the grounds of narrow, homogeneous community values regarding…

The traditional approach of the courts was to accept as "reasonable cause" for teacher dismissal any conduct that set a bad example for students. This chapter examines a cross-section of cases illustrating recent court decisions in this area and attempts to identify any consistent patterns of adjudication and their implications for school…

Tenured teaching staff member in New Jersey cannot be dismissed from their positions unless a board of education establishes just cause in a hearing before the Commissioner of Education. This pamphlet, designed to assist boards in filing dismissal proceedings for unsatisfactory tenured teachers, provides a comprehensive review of all recent tenure…

Reviews judicial decisions involving school staff evaluation systems. Courts remain reluctant to interfere with the summative evaluation process of a school district. Administrators must apply reasoned, ascertainable standards in employment decisions in order to withstand judicial scrutiny amid the array of legal constraints on the evaluation of…

Open records statutes, child abuse reporting laws, and public policy are impediments to confidential settlement agreements with school districts and teachers accused of child abuse. In addition, a school administrator should ask whether the settlement agreement could assist an unsuitable teacher to obtain employment in another school district.…