How do the courts determine whether a teachers speech touches on a matter of public concern?
The Supreme Court has established that speech touches on a matter of public concern when the public employee’s speech deals with matters of political, social, or other concerns to the community. Per Garcetti, however, such speech must be delivered as a private citizen, and not pursuant to one’s official duties as an employee. As David Hudson writes on firstamendmentcenter.org, the Garcetti opinion has already affected the free-speech claims of public school teachers. It certainly “proved a stiff barrier to the First Amendment claims of school teacher Jillian Caruso, who alleged she was discharged from her elementary school teaching job in New York after she spoke in favor of President George W. Bush during the 2004 presidential election campaign. Caruso placed a picture of Bush in her classroom. She alleged that shortly thereafter school officials forced her to remove the picture and forced her to resign her teaching position.
Related Questions
- Does a school violate the First Amendment if it disciplines a teacher for speech that touches on a matter of public concern?
- How do courts balance a teacher’s First Amendment rights against the interests of the public school system?
- How do the courts determine whether a teachers speech touches on a matter of public concern?
