Probably. Teachers must remember that most courts consistently rule that teachers do not have a First Amendment right to trump the curriculum mandated by the school board. Furthermore, some courts take a narrow view of what constitutes "communicative conduct" that implicates the First Amendment.

For example, the Sixth Circuit ruled that school officials did not violate the First Amendment rights of a teacher when they fired her for showing the R-rated movie Pink Floyd -- The Wall in her classroom. Even though the Supreme Court has determined since the 1950s that movies are a form of expression protected by the First Amendment, the Sixth Circuit determined that the teacher's conduct in showing the R-rated movie was not "expressive or communicative, under the circumstances presented."¹

However, the same Sixth Circuit reinstated a former elementary school teacher who had claimed she was fired for inviting actor Woody Harrelson to come speak to her class about the environmental benefits of hemp. A lower court had dismissed her suit, ruling that the teacher's choice of classroom speaker "was neither expressive nor intended to convey a particularized message." On appeal, the Sixth Circuit reversed, finding that a teacher's choice of an in-class speaker was a form of expression entitled to at least some First Amendment protection.²

¹ Fowler v. Bd. of Education of Lincoln County, Ky., 819 F.2d 657 (6th Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 986 (1987).

² Cockrel v. Shelby County Sch. Dist., 270 F.3d 1036 (6th Cir. 2001).

Last updated: Monday, September 6, 2010 | 13:11:21