Texas Teachers Legal Rights

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tinker v. The Moines School District declares that students have the right to free speech under the First Amendment. But in the Tinker case, the Court also stated that these rights were not absolute. Just as a citizen does not have the right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre, a student`s right to freedom of expression can be restricted. The court clarified that school officials can restrict communications that “physically disrupt classroom work or involve significant disruption or interference with the rights of others.” Since 1969, educators, students and courts have questioned whether a particular statement by a student was sufficiently disruptive to permit its ban. Students also have rights, such as freedom of speech and religious expression. But students` rights are often more limited than those of adults. If a student wishes to exercise a right, his or her parents often have to file an application on behalf of their child. However, each school district has the legal authority to require a certain level of professional development or continuing education for its employees in order to maintain employment in the district.

These requirements may be higher than the general requirements for teacher certification in Texas. Texas Education Code 26.003 provides that parents may request that their child be assigned or absent from a particular teacher or class. A school cannot unreasonably refuse such a request, but it is not required to comply if it would affect another student`s task. Although many administrators have a policy that requires or encourages a meeting with the teacher prior to reassignment, such a meeting is not required by law. In very limited circumstances, a school district may issue a “District School Teaching Licence” under section 21.055. While all other certification matters are handled by SBEC, the school district`s teaching license is coordinated by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). For more information, please use the link above or send an email sdtp@tea.texas.gov. Because the field of law is so fluid, there are no good rules that teachers have to follow. Therefore, it is best for teachers to immediately involve the administration when a student asks permission for a religious activity, whether it is changing an assignment or handing out religious gifts to classmates.

The Establishment Clause – Limits to Discussing Your Beliefs The First Amendment`s “Establishment Clause” prohibits the government from promoting a particular religious belief. Public school teachers do not lose their own rights to their own religious beliefs, but although they act in their professional capacity as teachers, they are legally considered agents of the government, so they must be careful not to promote their own beliefs when teaching. Traditional tasks of teachers would be considered useful, such as lesson preparation, evening grading, and occasional participation in extracurricular departmental meetings and parent-teacher conferences. But as expectations evolve, so does the standard of what is reasonable. It has become increasingly common for teachers to give private lessons after hours and attend pre-STAAR preparatory sessions on weekends. As these become more frequent and an understandable part of teaching, they become a more reasonable additional task. State and federal laws give parents significant access to information about their own child. This includes course materials, lesson plans, tests (after the test has been taken), and subjective assessments of students as part of entry into extracurricular activities. It also includes attendance and disciplinary records, counselling and psychological records (although there are limited specific exceptions), as well as reports or records of role models and school intervention strategies.

Although there are very limited exceptions, such as when reporting child abuse by a parent, the rule of thumb is that parents have the legal right to obtain all information about their own child. The printing of students through channels organized by the school, such as the school newspaper, the selection of theatrical productions or books to be kept in the school library, is subject to stricter controls by school officials in accordance with the Hazelwood decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. In this case, the court found that the school-sponsored forums could be more strictly controlled because they were part of the school`s curriculum. This distinction between a student`s individual expression and expression through a school-run forum has been controversial, and the courts remain busy dealing with legal challenges on a variety of issues, ranging from district censorship of school newspapers to the removal of some books from school libraries. Performance reviews, contract disputes, campus transfers, student discipline, parent complaints, duty-free lunches, vacation policies, salary concerns, and child abuse are just some of the issues on which TCTA lawyers provide legal assistance to members. The following list provides information on these and other legal topics of interest to teachers. For example: a school district may decide that all teachers must be certified in English as a second language by a certain date. Each teacher in the school district would be responsible for meeting the additional education and certification requirements by the required date. If a teacher does not meet the requirement, the district could likely terminate the teacher`s employment after the deadline.

Successful education requires cooperation between teacher, administrator and parents. Unfortunately, teacher-parent relationships are not always as positive as both parties would like. Teachers need to know what a parent can ask for to avoid unnecessary conflict. Some parental rights are based on court decisions, others on specific provisions of the Texas Education Code. See Chapter 26 of the Education Code (Rights and Responsibilities of Parents). Even if a reassignment is legal, the employee can challenge it through the complaints procedure. State law provides that a parent has the legal right to obtain information about his or her own child. This general right of access is also provided for in the Federal Act on Rights and Property in Family Education (FERPA). The First Amendment to the U.S.

Constitution is the primary consideration of a student`s rights with respect to religious expression. The First Amendment establishes two related and equally important requirements for teachers and public school administrators, commonly referred to as the “establishment clause” and the “offence clause.” Parents do not have the legal right to observe a classroom, but may be asked to do so by the teacher or district administration. If the administration accepts a parent`s visit, the teacher must comply with the decision. Although parents do not have an absolute right of access to classrooms, most schools allow them to attend for a limited time. As a rule, parents are only bound by visiting rules, such as making an appointment in advance, not attending the test, not staying more than a certain time, and checking in at the front desk before entering the classroom. Often, teachers prefer no more than one or two visitors at a time. Parents who do not respect school attendance rules or cause repeated disruption may be excluded from the classroom by the administration.