Prayer in school has always been a controversial topic. Throughout the last century, public schools have transitioned from mandatory bible readings to a prohibition on public prayer at the beginning of a graduation ceremony. In this article, I plan to cover a brief review of landmark cases, including TN law, and a summary of the current limitation of prayer in public schools.

T.C.A. § 49-6-3401 lists the grounds on which a student may be suspended in Tennessee. The list is not exhaustive, reading carefully you will notice that those violations…

The Landmark Tinker case has guided whether a school can punish a student for speech, but that soon may change. Over the past decade, the use of social media has exploded and students are often choosing social media as their mode of expression. When posts are reported, school officials struggle to enforce rules while not limiting the 1st Amendment rights of students. 

Republican led legislatures around the country took quick action to pass laws that prohibited a student that identified with a different gender than that of birth from competing in athletic events. In Tennessee

When I was in school there was only one type of suspension, today there are two primary types, in-school (ISS) and out-of-school (OSS) suspensions, but school officials also can limit their suspensions to specific classes and school-sponsored events.

To begin, it’s important to note that a retaliation claim is not limited to termination and dismissal. In addition to the aforementioned actions, it is also unlawful for an employee to be punished for:

When evaluating a teacher's speech, leaders must first determine if the teacher was indeed speaking pursuant to their official duties. In many cases, this is easy to determine. A teacher's speech in the classroom (virtually now), while conducting their daily duties or in accordance with assignments would likely not be protected by the First Amendment.

Question: When is a teacher's speech protected under the 1st Amendment?

ANSWER: A public teacher’s speech is protected when:

Ever since the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines case, it is well established that students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse but also that school officials have been given greater latitude to allow them to ensure a safe learning environment for all students.