Inside Four Walls: Finally some sanity prevails

Most of my posts dealing with education have been about students having free reign on free speech while the teachers have been stifled. Well maybe the tide is turning? Maybe?

That night, Doninger wrote a Livejournal blog post criticizing the school officials' handling of the issue. In the post, she called the school officials “douchebags” and asked her fellow students and their parents to complain to school superintendent Schwartz in order “to piss [Schwartz] off more” than the mass e-mail had.In response to her blog post, the school barred Doninger from running for reelection as Class Secretary for her senior year. At the class election, school officials prevented a group of students from wearing “Team Avery” t-shirts. According to school principal Niehoff, the t-shirt ban was intended to prevent electioneering by candidates and supporters who could afford such merchandise.

So what happened? She sued and guess what? She lost.

The court determined that Avery's blog post constituted on-campus speech for First Amendment purposes, regardless of the fact that she wrote it off campus, because "the blog was related to school issues, and it was reasonably foreseeable that other LMHS students would view the blog and that school administrators would become aware of it." Slip op. at 28. The court then noted that school administrators have the right, in certain situations, to restrict on-campus speech to promote school-related goals. The court also ruled that Avery does not have a First Amendment right to run for voluntary office.

Who knew? This should be interesting to follow. Definitely nice to see this happen though. Students think they own the world, so it's kind of nice to see them come crashing down.

Thoughts Without Words: Teacher fired for Facebook post

I have been debating whether or not to post this, but I figured why not? By now, most of you have probably heard about the high school teacher who was fired for a Facebook post in which she said;

the residents of Cohasset "arrogant and snobby," and said that she is "so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset schools."

So I gotta say I am shocked she was fired/resigned. What happened to freedom of speech? She was at home on her own page, expressing her opinions and she is fired.

I have stories about my classes and school on my blog, but I keep them anonymous. But does that matter? This teacher wasn't talking about a single student, it was a general comment. So am I in danger?

Are teachers now "on" 24/7? Are we not allowed to have a personal life? Are we not allowed to express our thoughts and opinions? Sure seems like it.