The principle that emerges from the case is that a public employer does not have to share all relevant information with an employee prior to a termination hearing. (Author)

The Gaylord case has significance for all educators concerned about their private lives. The immorality case against Gaylord was based on speculation. (Author/IRT)

Describes a complex case involving termination of a third-grade teacher with recurrent tuberculosis. The United States Supreme Court upheld a circuit court's ruling that the teacher's condition satisfied section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act protecting handicapped persons against discrimination. Since contagiousness was not addressed, the…

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)

Recounts the case of "Turk v. Franklin Special School District" in Tennessee, in which the board's dismissal of a teacher was reversed by the Tennessee Supreme Court because the board failed to follow its own dismissal procedures and because the particular drunk driving conviction did not warrant dismissal. (RW)

A district court decision that the firing of a bisexual counselor violated free speech and equal protection of the law was reversed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although the United States Supreme Court declined to review the case, Justices Brennan and Marshall wrote dissenting opinions claiming unresolved constitutional issues. (MLF)

This is a guidebook for teachers in the public elementary and secondary schools on the subject of their legal rights. While public education is a state function, governed by laws, authority is delegated to local school boards. Areas in which a teacher may come in conflict with the governing body of the school are described. Freedom of speech, in…