Since its first publication in 2005, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has distributed more than 138,000 print and online copies of its "Guide to Free Speech on Campus." In that time, FIRE's commitment to advocating on behalf of the essential rights discussed in the pages that follow has remained unwavering;…

A parent brings a cyber bullying incident to your attention and expects you to resolve it. What are the students' rights and your responsibilities according to the law? Because the laws regarding disciplinary action are still evolving, this manual fills the gap by providing public school leaders with data-driven solutions for managing cyber…

This monograph reviews the law applying to defamation issues, cites various judicial decisions that affect colleges and universities, and offers guidance for minimizing the risk of defamation liability. It defines the two subclasses of defamatory statements: first, libel, which is a recorded or printed statement, and second, slander, which is…

This Missouri law-related education (LRE) guidebook for judges visiting classrooms and class visits to courtrooms is premised upon the belief that partnerships between judges and teachers will foster civic competence in students, help students avoid legal problems, enhance higher level skills such as analytical thinking, and increase students'…

Recent Tennessee and Alabama court decisions raise similar issues involving (1) fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment and (2) the process of public education. Outlines the effects these decisions have on teachers and in classrooms. The supporters would suppress critical thinking and imagination while opponents would promote critical…

The focus of this chapter is on the substantive constitutional protections of the public school employment relationship guaranteed by the First Amendment, particularly freedom of speech, and by the Fourteenth Amendment's right to privacy. Included are burden-of-proof standards required for establishing a prima facie case of denial of these…

This guide for school district administrators presents workshop materials for administrators' mutual training. The guide assists administrators in preventing lawsuits by teachers against the district for violations of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Section 1, the introduction, offers two objectives: to acquaint administrators with…

School media serve as communication links within the school, but they are much more than simple house organs. They are unique and their reasons for being must spring from the educational goals that an individual school system sets for itself. This guide is intended as an attempt to assess the general practices and attitudes regarding scholastic…

Noting that a deep concern about the suppression of ideas in the public schools of the United States is very much a part of the collective consciousness of the school library profession, the implications of intellectual freedom for school library personnel and for library collection development are explored. The position of the school library in…

Much of the current public discussion in the United States about the Internet and speech rights focuses on the array of materials (particularly sexually explicit materials) that are available on the Internet, the effect of exposure to them on youth development, and whether the material should be regulated. In exploring questions about youth access…