2)+Legal+Issues

= ** __Legal Cases__ **=

There are many different cases that center on teachers losing their jobs because they mistakenly thought that they had the protection of the first amendment. Several cases are detailed below, some the jury is still out and the individuals are awaiting a trial and others have already had their fate decided.

Spanierman v. Hughes, 576 F. Supp. 2D. 292 (D. Conn. 2008) Jeffrey Spanierman a nontenured English teacher at Emmet O’Brien High School (EOHS) in Connecticut created a MySpace profile which he used to communicate with students about school and non school related topics. After another teacher compained about the page, the Guidance Counselor viewed the page and felt that there were inappropriate comments and “peer-like” discussions between Spanierman and students. The guidance counselor expressed her concerns and Mr Spanierman deactivated the profile. A short while later, Mr Spanierman created another profile. There were allegations of complaints about this profile as well. The Guidance Counselor informed the principal and Mr Spanierman was put on administrative leave with pay during an investigation conducted by a state education labor relations specialist. Upon completion of the investigation, Principal Hylwa sent Mr Spanierman a letter explaining that he had used poor judgement as a teacher. The same day the Assistant Superintendent informed Mr Spanierman that his contract would not be renewed the following year. The Superintendent agreed and supported this decision. Mr Spanierman sued the superintendent, assistant superintendent and principal claiming violation of his rights to procedural and substantive due process, equal protection, free speech and free association. Mr. Spanierman lost his case. All charges were dismissed. The district was upheld in their decision not to renew Mr. Spanierman’s contract after investigating complaints about his MySpace page. Mr Spanierman was not entitled to due process under the Tenured Teacher Act. His First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were not violated.

Snyder v. Millersville University, No 07-1660 (E.D. Pa. Dec 5, 2008) Stacey Snyder, a student teacher from Millersville University assigned to Conestoga Valley High School (CVHS) for her student teaching was not allowed to complete her practicum at CVHS due to “unprofessional behavior” in conjunction with her personal MySpace account. Ms. Snyder had a MySpace page which she invited students to join as friends. She discussed personal issues with students and also made unflattering comments about her supervising teacher at CVHS. In addition there was a photo posted of her consuming alcohol in a pirate costume with the caption “Drunken Pirate” on the profile. As a result of this failure to complete the required curriculum, Ms. Snyder was not allowed to receive a Bachelors in Education and has been denied a teaching certificate by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). Ms. Snyder sued MU and several administrators for “monetary relief and injunctive relief ordering MU to award Ms. Snyder a BSE and a recommendation for certification. Ms. Snyder also alleged that MU had violated her First Amendment rights. Ms. Snyder also lost this case. The charges were dismissed against the university. The federal judge ruled against Ms Snyder, stating that the university is under no obligation to award a teaching degree without completion of the curriculum which included the teaching practicum experience. The court also weighed whether or not Ms. Snyder would be considered a teacher or student in this instance. It was found that she was “an apprentice more akin to a public employee/teacher than a student”. The judge also stated that a teacher’s First Amendment rights pertain to public matters only, not personal and that Ms. Snyder’s postings were clearly personal in nature and therefore were not protected.

As you can from both of the cases above the courts decided in the school's favor. The teachers were not entitled to First Amendment Protection for things posted to their MySpace profile, the same can be said for Facebook. The videos below give an even more vivid picture of why as teachers we need to be very careful with everything we do, post, and say.

This video is another example of what can happen from bad judgment and poor privacy controls. media type="youtube" key="VMJM-SQjUBc" height="405" width="500" This situation below which took place back in Aug 2009 has yet to be decided, but is yet another reason that teachers more than anyone else should think before acting, posing for pictures, or posting to the internet. Teachers NEED to know who they are accepting as friends and really need to understand the privacy controls on their profiles.

media type="youtube" key="zL8xIELR2Gc" height="321" width="527"