TEACHER LIFESTYLE CHOICES AND OUT-OFSCHOOL CONDUCT

How well do you know the law?

Created by: Tawanda Coston-Smallwood

ACTIVATOR

RATIONALE
Objectives
Teachers will be able to apply the legal standard to reallife situations that occur in the U.S. public schools in examining discipline based on lifestyle choices. Teachers will be able to identify equal-protection and privacy arguments in lifestyle choices. Teachers will be able to discuss trends in lifestyle choices.

THE LAW
Reasons for Dismissal Immorality Unfitness to teach Unprofessional conduct Incompetence Insubordination

THE LAW
Courts generally consider the following when making
employment decisions regarding teacher lifestyles: The notoriety of the conduct The impact the conduct has on the individuals teaching abilities Courts usually require a nexus between the teachers conduct and impaired teaching effectiveness in order for the teachers dismissal to be justifiable.

THE LAW
Protection for the Teacher
The Equal Protection Clause provides for the equal protection laws The Due Process Clause requires that no person be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of the law

COURT CASES
Ponton v. Newport News School Board, 1986 offering a single teacher parental leave without a guarantee of her position upon return violates the teachers constitutional and statutory rights

THE LAW
Sherburne v. School Board, 1984 A Florida court overturned a school boards termination of a teacher for lacking good moral character based on a personal romantic relationship. In this case, the school district questioned her choice as an unmarried woman to spend the night with an unmarried man.

COURT CASES
Barringer v. Caldwell County Board of Education, 1996 A teacher who brought a loaded shotgun and a loaded pistol to a local poolroom was dismissed for immorality.

COURT CASES
In re Freeman, 1993

A teacher was dismissed for possessing marijuana and for smoking it in his home. North Carolina law permits a tenured teacher to be dismissed for nonmedical use of a controlled substance. The school board upheld his dismissal even though he was never criminally charged by the police.

COURT CASES
Skripchuk v. Austin, 1977 An outstanding industrial arts teacher was dismissed after he was convicted of aggravated assault with a gun.

COURT CASES
In re Shelton, 1987 A Minnesota teacher was dismissed for unprofessional conduct after being convicted for theft from a company he ran with two other teachers.

COURT CASES
Murray v. Oceanside Unified School District, 2000
Fellow teachers and administrators subjected an awardwinning high school biology teacher to years of harassment and allegedly passed her over for promotion because of her lifestyle choice. The California Court of Appeals found that a state labor law protected the teacher from harassment and discrimination based on her sexual orientation.

COURT CASES
Glover v. Williamsburg Local School District, 1998 An Ohio federal court awarded a teacher reinstatement, back pay, and damages when it found that his contract was not renewed because of his sexual orientation and not because of his teaching deficiencies.

APPLICATION
In your groups, read the following scenarios and decide whether it would be permissible to discipline the teacher based on his or her lifestyle choices or out-of-school conduct. Also consider whether there has been an equalprotection or privacy violation.

SCENARIO #1
An elementary school teacher was dismissed for immorality because he had a consensual sexual relationship with a seventeen-year-old high

school student. He taught this student when she was at the elementary
school. The teacher argued that the student no longer attended the elementary school, that his conduct was not criminal, and that the relationship had not affected his professional duties. Was the school boards action permissible?

OUTCOME #1
The State Supreme Court in Delaware ruled that the teacher was unfit to teach. The court found that the

evidence demonstrated a sufficient nexus between the

undisputed sexual relationship and his fitness to teach. The court found that the public disclosure of the

relationship had a detrimental impact on the school.

SCENARIO #2
An art teacher painted different pictures using his buttocks. He posted a video of himself painting this way

on YouTube. Although the teacher wore a disguise on the

video, the school district still learned of this video and attempted to dismiss him. Could school officials discipline this

teacher?

OUTCOME #2
This teacher could be disciplined if his conduct became notorious in the community and if it had a negative impact on his teaching effectiveness.

ASSESSMENT Using what you have learned about the law regarding teacher lifestyle

choices and out-of-school conduct,

answer the following questions.

QUESTIONS
Can teachers be dismissed because of rumors of
immoral conduct? Could a teacher be disciplined for encouraging a student to lie?

QUESTIONS
Could a teacher be dismissed for having a sexual relationship with a former student who has recently graduated?

May a school official punish a teacher for a posting or picture

of herself smoking and drinking a beer on Facebook?

REMEMBER:

IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE!