Teachers

 

Select and write a case brief regarding teachers employment.

Use the attachment as the template. (Meaning to plug your information into it because this is exactly how the brief needs to be formatted.)

DO NOT copy and paste a case from a site. Use your own words to answer the parts in the case brief.

Plagiarism checkers are used!

There is no page count. Just be sure to thoroughly answer the questions in the breif.

TRIPLE check your grammar and DO NOT use a rewriting tool because I can tell.

As well-known and well-liked teacher of a local Elementary school, Ms. Kim has a lot of ties to the small community she works in.

 

This county is a tight knit in which many resident’s family ties trace back several generations. Including Ms. Kim who graduated from the local high school and returned to teach in the same community in which she was raised.  Ms. Kim is a 11th year teacher in good standing with no sanctions or reprimands from her administration or the Board of Education.

In 2016 the community experienced a highly charged political fight for 2 open county commissioner seats.  Ms. Kim is a childhood friend and former classmates of one candidate David Michaels who is also an educator.  Ms. Kim took an active role Michaels’ campaign and was often the face of his campaign.  Because of her connection to Michaels she was not only a staunch supporter but also an advocate highlighting Michaels’ contribution to the field of education as well as his character accolades.  At no point during the campaign did Ms. Kim’s administration ask her to put the brakes on her support of this one candidate, nor did they counsel her on how to assert her freedom to speech but at the same time express that her views were her opinion as a citizen rather than in her role as educator (Essex, 2012, p. 106).  Even during summer break, Kim had fluid conversations with her superiors and peers due to the community being so interconnected.  At no point during the campaign did anyone suggested that she publicly declare that her support was based on her personal opinion rather than that of an educator.

In the end Michaels” lost his bid to an incumbent that Kim had strong negative opinions about but had never spoke of publicly.   However, there was a push from the supporters of this candidate to sanction Kim for her work on the campaign, asserting that she used her position as a teacher to promote confidence and allegiance for Michael’s bid for election.  Ultimately, Ms. Kim was not only suspended without pay pending an administrative hearing, but she was tried in the court of public opinion as a result of media coverage and comments made by supporters of Michaels’ adversary.    Ms. Kim asserted her right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution (Essex, 2012, p. 105).   

Ms. Kim and her supporters contended that she was treated unfairly based on the fact that Kim neither declared that her opinions were that of a citizen rather than an educator, but also never declared her position as an educator.  Additionally, not only were all of Kim’s efforts in this campaign on weekends and evenings a majority of her involvement took place over summer when Kim was in effect “On Break” from her teaching duties. The opposition asserted that because Ms. Kim was not only well known in the community but also highly regarded in her position as an educator that it was implied that her support was as her professional role as an educator.

Ms. Kim’s support of Michaels did not involve defamatory comments or information about his opponent’s character (Essex, 2012, p. 106). Nor did any of the issues addressed in the campaign involve the school system or the Board of Education.  Ms. Kim’s support of Michaels’ moral character allegedly silently impugned the integrity of his opponent.  The issues at the core of the election were those of community interest, this is where the opposition found their ammunition for their fight against Kim.

Who would you support based on the facts? The district or Ms. Kim?   Does the district and administration have the right to suppress public efforts to support candidates if they do not directly involve the school system?

 In this case I used the pivotal points from Pickering v. Board of Education (Essex ,2012, p. 106).  Kim’s actions were not defamatory, were not reckless or lacking in truth.  Kim was entitled to free speech and constitutional protection to comment on matters of community concern (Essex, 2012, P. 106).  Generally, it could be seen that formally Kim should have stated that she was acting as a member of the community rather than an educator but since she was highly regarded as a teacher it would likely have not made a difference.  I find that the district is in violation of suppressing Kim’s right to free speech.

Who would you support the district or Ms. Kim? And key points do you feel strongly support your position?

 

Loriann

Reference:

Essex, N. L. (2012). The 200 most frequently asked legal questions for educators. New York, NY: Skyhorse Pub.

Briefing Cases

In general, it should not take you more than 20 minutes to brief a case after you have read it carefully. The brief should be no longer than two typed pages and should include the students name, the assignment, and the date at the top of the first page.

Every brief should contain the following elements:

Identification of Case

1. Name of Case: The title of the decision contains the name of the litigants.

2. Citation (for possible later reference to complete official text): A judicial citation contains the volume number and page number of the reporter system in which the decision appears as well as the year in which the decision was issued.

3. Date decided (at the highest court level) and the highest court: The level or type of court is important because it indicated the federal or state jurisdiction immediately affected by the decision.

Analysis of Case

4. Background and Facts: Include previous court rulings here: Facts include the actual circumstances, events or occurrences involved in the case.

5. Issues (no more than two or three issues per case in one line each: include “yes” or “no” answers after each): An issue is a disputed point or question of law on which a legal action is based. Issues are of two types, procedural and substantive.

a. Procedural: Involves specific disputed questions of law and these issue are the basis of an appeal to a higher court.

b. Substantive: involve broader questions of legal rights and principals, such as liberty and property interests.

6. Decision of the Highest Court

7. Majority opinion or reasons for the decision (about three to six lines)

8. Any dissenting or concurring opinions (two or three lines each)

9. Comments from you and/or your sources

Please cite all sources at the end of the brief. It is not necessary to create a separate reference page.