#1 Free Legal Website

FindLaw.com is the leading and largest online resource for legal information. For basic legal issues
to more complex ones, youll find thousands of helpful articles, a legal community to get answers to
your specific questions, an attorney directory, blogs, news, DIY forms, and much more.

Teachers Rights: Tenure and Dismissal

Teacher Tenure
Most states protect teachers in public schools from arbitrar y dismissal through tenure statutes. Under these tenure
statutes, once a teacher has attained tenure, his or her contract renews automatically each year. School districts may dis-
miss tenured teachers only by a showing of cause, after following such procedural requirements as providing notice to the
teacher, specifying the charges against the teacher, and providing the teacher with a meaningful hearing. Most tenure
statutes require teachers to remain employed during a probationar y period for a cer tain number of years. Once this proba-
tionary period has ended, teachers in some states will earn tenure automatically. In other states, the local school board
must take some action to grant tenure to the teacher, often at the conclusion of a review of the teachers performance.
Tenure also provides some protection for teachers against demotion, salary reductions, and other discipline. However,
tenure does not guarantee that a teacher may retain a particular position, such as a coaching position, nor does it provide
indefinite employment.
Prior to attaining tenure, a probationar y teacher may be dismissed at the discretion of the school district, subject to con-
tractual and constitutional restrictions. Laws other than those governing tenure will apply to determine whether a dis-
charge of a teacher is wrongful. If a probationary teachers dismissal does not involve discrimination or does not violate
terms of the teachers contract, the school district most likely does not need to provide notice, summar y of charges, or a
hearing to the teacher.
In the absence of a state tenure statute, a teacher can still attain de facto tenure rights if the customs or circumstances of
employment demonstrate that a teacher has a "legitimate claim of entitlement for job tenure." The United States Supreme
Cour t recognized this right in the case of Perr y v. Sindermann , which also held that where a teacher has attained de facto
tenure, the teacher is entitled to due process prior to dismissal by the school district.
State laws do not govern the tenure process at private schools. However, a contract between a private school district and
a teacher may provide tenure rights, though enforcement of these rights is related to the contract rights rather than rights
granted through the state tenure statute.

Dismissal for Cause

A school must show cause in order to dismiss a teacher who has attained tenure status. Some state statutes provide a list
of circumstances where a school may dismiss a teacher. These circumstances are similar to those in which a state
agency may revoke a teachers cer tification. Some causes for dismissal include the following:
Immoral conduct
Incompetence
Neglect of duty
Substantial noncompliance with school laws
Conviction of a crime
Insubordination
Fraud or misrepresentation

Due Process Rights of Teachers

The Due Process Clause of the Four teenth Amendment, like its counterpar t in the Fifth Amendment, provides that no
state may "deprive any person of life, liber ty, or proper ty, without due process of law." This clause applies to public school
districts and provides the minimum procedural requirements that each public school district must satisfy when dismissing
a teacher who has attained tenure. Note that in this context, due process does not prescribe the reasons why a teacher
may be dismissed, but rather it prescribes the procedures a school must follow to dismiss a teacher. Note also that many
state statutory provisions for dismissing a teacher actually exceed the minimum requirements under the Due Process
Clause.
The United States Supreme Court case of Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill is the leading case involving the
question of what process is due under the Constitution. This case provides that a tenured teacher must be given oral or
written notice of the dismissal and the charges against him or her, an explanation of the evidence obtained by the
employer, and an opportunity for a fair and meaningful hearing.
The FindLaw Guide to Online Fraud and Identity Theft
FINDLAW.COM EMPOWERS
PEOPLE WITH TRUSTED,
TIMELY AND INTELLIGENT
LEGAL INFORMATION
BLOGS FindLaw Blogs present timely news that has
real-life implications, deliver important information
and discuss law-related entertainment.

FINDLAW ANSWERS A vibrant, interactive online

community where everyday people can ask legal
questions and get real-time answers from legal
professionals and others with similar experiences.
NEWS & NEWSLETTERS Updated throughout the
day and night and covering a wide range of legal
topics, FindLaw.coms News page presents current
legal news, keeping people informed and educated.
FIND A LAWYER An easy-to-search database
of more than one million lawyers and law firms. It
provides detailed information, enabling people to
contact a qualified lawyer when they are ready.
DO-IT-YOURSELF FORMS & CONTRACTS FindLaw.
com provides accurate legal documents for common
legal matters. Choose from a library of easy-to-use,
low-cost, accurate legal forms for everyday legal issues.
FINDLAW VIDEO On FindLaw.com, youll find an
online directory of more than 1,500 short videos
dedicated exclusively to legal topics and attorney and
law firm profiles.

Connect With Us
FindLaw.com has an entire social media team HAVE A LEGAL QUESTION?
dedicated to providing our users with as many NEED TO FIND AN AFFORDABLE,
options as possible to join, participate in, and learn QUALIFIED ATTORNEY?
from the FindLaw community. Some of the social
key channels are the following: Protect yourself, your family or
your business with a legal plan
FindLaw for Consumers on Facebook
or form from LegalStreet
Making the law easy to access with interactive
legal updates aimed at starting conversations,
informing followers of their legal rights and
providing a forum for questions and resources

@FindLawConsumer on Twitter
Tweeting interesting, entertaining and
informative legal news everyday

Copyright 2013 FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters business. All rights reserved. The information
contained in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
The use and distribution of this article is subject to the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license, which
Learn More: Tips to Help Protect Your Identity, Protect
Find a Consumer Protection
can be viewed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You must attribute
Yourself from Online the articleFraud,
Auction by Stolen Identity:
Attorney Near You
providing the title of the article, FindLaw copyright notice and link toWhat to Do work. You may not
the original Follow us on

use the article for commercial purposes and you may not alter or transform this article in any way. A Thomson Reuters Business