Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

9-1983

Abstract

American schools have served as battlegrounds for competing social policies for generations. Major national disputes have centered on racial problems, busing, and federal funding. Local debate continues over curricula, teacher competence, pedagogical methods, textbooks and library books, discipline, and such trivial matters as hairstyle. Nationally, the current debates about school prayer and tax credits for the payment of private school tuition have consumed the time and resources of numerous individuals. These disputes show no sign of abating. Teachers are the most significant participants in the educational process. Their work involves those activities--speaking, writing, and questioning--that constitute the core values protected by the first amendment. The law, however, subjects teachers from the kindergarten through the university levels to a variety of limitations on both written and spoken expression. Statutes, ordinances, regulations, and contract provisions affect classroom activity, academic research, publication decisions, hiring and firing within the school, and sometimes, the scope of permissible behavior outside the school itself.

Discipline

Education | Education Law

Publication

William & Mary Law Review

Volume

25

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

79

ISSN

0043-5589

Additional URL

http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol25/iss1/2

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