Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities 1

Edu 210 - Artifact #2

Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities

Gemma Crowell

College of Southern Nevada

February 13, 2016

Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities 2

Ms. Ann Griffin is a white, tenured teacher at a high school that has a high black student

population. A heated argument that occurred between Ann Griffin and her two black school

administrators, Freddie Watts, principal, and Jimmy Brothers, assistant principal, caused much

controversy, anger, and disappointment among her fellow coworkers at the school. Ms. Griffin

was reported to have said in frustration that she "hated all black folks." Her remark prompted the

principal to recommend a dismissal regarding her inability to control her emotion which posed

doubts as to her classroom behavior management skills and her inability to be an effective

unbiased teacher. The issue in this case is whether the school has sufficient cause to dismiss Ms.

Griffin from her post as a tenured teacher exercising her right to freedom of speech.

Pickering v. Board of Education (1968), will be the first case presented in favor of Ann

Griffin's upholding of her right to freedom of speech. In the case of Pickering v. Board of

Education (1968), "a teacher criticized the school board and superintendent's actions regarding a

school tax levy in a letter to the editor published by the local newspaper. The board dismissed the

teacher. The Supreme Court found the school had violated the teacher's rights to free speech and

overturned Pickering's dismissal" (Underwood & Webb, 2006, p. 49). In regard to Ann Griffin's

case, Pickering v. Board of Education (1968) serves to support Ann Griffin that what she has

uttered was her privilege to her freedom of speech.

The case of Connick v. Myers (1983), will be the second case in favor of Ann Griffin's

right to exercise her freedom of speech. In the Connick v. Myers (1983) case, Sheila Myers was

employed as an Assistant to the New Orleans District Attorney, Harry Connick, Sr. "When

Connick proposed to transfer Myers to prosecute cases in a different section of the criminal

court, she strongly opposed the transfer, expressing her view to several of her supervisors,

including her boss. Shortly thereafter, she prepared a questionnaire that she distributed to others
Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities 3

concerning transfer policy, among others. The distribution of the questionnaire was considered

an act of insubordination. Myers filed suit alleging that she was wrongfully discharged because

she had exercised her constitutionally protected right of free speech. The District Court agreed,

ordered her reinstated, and awarded back pay, damages, and attorney's fees" (Justia, 2015). This

case serves to uphold Ann Griffin's right to exercise her constitutionally protected right to speech

and that school officials cannot just prohibit a teacher for exercising her constitutional right.

The first case in favor of the school administrator's justification for the dismissal of Ann

Griffin is the Martin v. Parrish (1986) case. In this case, "the court upheld the dismissal of an

economics instructor, holding that his use of profane language in a college classroom did not fall

within the scope of First Amendment protection because it did not constitute speech on matters

of public concern, the language was deemed to be a deliberate attack on a "captive audience"

with no academic purpose or justification" (UNC Charlotte, 2016). In regard to the case of Ann

Griffin, the school administrators are justified for their dismissal of Griffin because her remark

did not have an academic purpose and it undermined the authority of the school administrators.

The second case in favor of the school is the Mayer v. Monroe County Community School

(2007). In this case, "Deborah A. Mayer was a first-year teacher in the 11,000-student Monroe

County, Ind., school district in January 2003 when she used an edition of TIME for Kids in a

current-events discussion about the then-impending war. The district court concluded that,

because military intervention in Iraq is an issue of public importance, Mayer had a right to

express her views on the subject, but that the right is qualified in the workplace by the

requirement that expression not disrupt an employer's business unduly. After concluding that the

employer's interests predominate, the district court gave judgment for the defendants" (FindLaw,
Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities 4

2016). In regard to Ann Griffin's case, the school is justified in their dismissal even though the

teacher had exercised her freedom of speech, because her speech has affected her coworker's

relationships and did not serve the best interest of the school.

My decision in this case is in favor of the school administrator, Freddie Watts, and that he

does have sufficient cause to dismiss Ann Griffin under the cases Martin v. Parrish (1986) and

Mayer v. Monroe County Community School (2007). Griffin's exercise of her freedom of speech

not only affected her relationships with her colleagues and students, but it also showed her lack

of respect for those in authority over her at work. Her use of language, though it may have been

uttered out of frustration, shows a lack of control of her emotions and could also reflect what she

could have done in the classroom, thus making her incompetent to manage the behaviors of her

students. So, in this case, the school is justified in the dismissal of the teacher due to Griffin's

questionable classroom behavior management skills and her inability to be an effective unbiased

teacher based from the argument that took place between her and the school administrators.
Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities 5

References

Connick v. Myers (1983). Justia. (2015). Retrieved at

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/461/138/

Martin v. Parrish (1986). UNC Charlotte. (2016). Relevant Cases on Academic

Freedom in the Classroom. Retrieved at http://legal.uncc.edu/legal-topics/classroom-
policies-and-practices/academic-freedom-classroom

Mayer v. Monroe County Community School (2007). FindLaw. (2016). Retrieved at

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1233551.html

Pickering v. Board of Education (1968). FindLaw. (2016). Retrieved at

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/391/563.html

Underwood, J., & Webb, L. (2006). Teacher's Rights. In School Law for Teachers. New Jersey:

Pearson Education.