Final Law Landmark Cases

Front 1

• Speech of public concern is protected
• Teacher must provide burden of showing constitutionally protected conduct was motivating factor in the termination
• Probationary teachers are not allowed full due process in termination

Back 1

Mt. Healthy School District Board of Education v Doyle, 1977

Front 2

• “Tinker” for teachers
• Public school teachers have constitutional rights that they can exercise
• Tenured teachers establishment
• “Arbitrary and capricious”

Back 2

Pickering v. Board of Education, 1968

Front 3

• Public v. Private concern
• Set lines of freedom of speech according to Pickering
• Cannot dismiss for speaking out on issues of “public” concern
• Employees can be dismissed if speech is of a private matter rather than a public concern
• Established when a public employee can exercise freedom of speech
• Case was outside educational setting

Back 3

Connick v Myers, 1983

Front 4

• Immunity from tort claims
• Public schools funded by taxes so suing the school, court determined individuals would be suing themselves.
• Sovereign immunity

Back 4

Aliffi v. Liberty County School District, 2003

Front 5

• Schools must provide protection from liability for all good-faith, non-malicious actions taken to fulfill duties
• Due process and best interest of all involved
• School officials do not have absolute immunity

Back 5

Wood v Strickland, 1973

Front 6

• Pubic officials cannot sue for defamation, absent of malice on the part of the other party

Back 6

New York Times Co v Sullivan, 1964

Front 7

• Principals and teachers are not public officials
• Principals must allow for certain criticism because they are a public figure
• Criticism must not be with actual malice that hurts the reputation and character of principal

Back 7

Ellerbee v Mills, 1992

Front 8

• Curriculum mandated by the state and local boards of education
• 10th Amendment gives authority to the states to have jurisdiction over public education

Back 8

Meyer v Nebraska, 1923

Front 9

• Selection or deletion of books that contain vulgar, obscene or sexually explicit language
• School boards do not have unlimited discretion to remove books previously placed on library shelves.

Back 9

Board of Education v Pico, 1982

Front 10

• States have power to specify curriculum in public schools
• Curriculum cannot infringe upon constitutional rights of the people
• Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1927 (Teaching of Evolution)

Back 10

Epperson v Arkansas,

Front 11

• Creativism or creation science
• Advancement of a particular religion
• Louisiana law to teach creativism ruled unconstitutional

Back 11

Edwards v Aguillard, 1987

Front 12

• School districts must show just cause by providing evidence when terminating a tenured teacher
• Do not have to follow recommendations of hearing committee
• Conviction of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude

Back 12

Gillet v Unified School District, 1980

Front 13

• Established community standards for education and termination
• 1. Physical or mental conditions-unfit to perform duties
• 2. Immoral conduct
• 3. 3 I’s—incompetency, inefficiency, and insubordination
• 4. Willful, persistent violation of school laws
• 5. Excessive or unreasonable absences
• 6. Conviction of a felony

Back 13

Erb v Iowa State Board of Public Instruction, 1974

Front 14

• School sponsorship of prayer violated First Amendment

Back 14

Abington School District v Schempp, 1963

Front 15

• State-sponsored religion expression violates the United States Constitution

Back 15

Engel v Vitale, 1962

Front 16

• Established standards for teaching religion within the curriculum
• 1. Must have a secular purpose
• 2. Neither advance nor inhibit religion
• 3. Not foster excessive entanglement with religion

Back 16

Lemon v Kurtzman, 1992

Front 17

• Voluntary Spoken Devotionals

Back 17

Lee v Weisman, 1992

Front 18

• Limited open forum for non-curriculum student groups to meet during non-instructional time
• Cannot deny access to specific student groups based on religious, political or philosophical content
• School employees must maintain a “non-participatory capacity”

Back 18

Board of Education of Westside Community School v Mergens, 1990

Front 19

• If public schools allow community meetings to be held in their facilities after school hours, they cannot deny access to religious groups

Back 19

Good News Club v Milford Cent. School, 2001

Front 20

• Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
• “Separate but Equal” terminated
• Desegregation of public schools

Back 20

Brown v Board of Education, 1954

Front 21

• Education under Plessy v. Ferguson was not equal and could not be made equal
• Equal protection under the law even if physical facilities and other factors are equal must be established

Back 21

Bolling v Sharp

Front 22

• “Separate but Equal”
• Segregation

Back 22

Plessy v Ferguson, 1896

Front 23

• Dealt mostly with taxes
• States would not pay for desegregation, federal judges would mandate tax increases to pay for desegregation
• Last case on desegregation heard by the Supreme Court

Back 23

Missouri v Jenkins