Teachers and the 1st Amendment - Part IV

Part IV – Teacher Speech and Retaliation Resources

First Amendment For Teachers/Public Employees

• Walter Haverfield – Class Act – Updates In Education Law – Podcast

• Professor David L. Hudson, Jr. – The First Amendment Encyclopedia

• Pickering-Connick Test

• Pickering v. Board of Education (1968)

• Jessica O. Laurin – Indiana Law Journal – Volume 92 – Issue 4 – Article 7

• “To Hell in a Handbasket”: Teachers, Free Speech, and Matters of Public Concern in the Social Media World. 

•  TN Teacher Code of Ethics

Final Note

The ever-increasing use of social media in the school environment and the larger impact on the community the school serves can make evaluating 1st Amendment issues difficult. The majority of school officials are familiar with the landmark Tinker case where the Court developed the substantial disruption requirement (Tinker Test) to discipline students for speech. In 2013, Emily McNee wrote a note for the Minnesota Law Review arguing in light of the digital age in which we live, the Pickering Test should be changed to include the substantial disruption standard as in Tinker.

Emily’s article can be found HERE.