Teachers Have NO Constitutional Right to Free Speech

In several previous posts I have been exploring this idea that public schools are a tool for the Federal Government to ‘school’ the public in the ‘basics’ in order to produce a disciplined society (and reduce crime). In one of the articles I read about the origins of the ‘free’ public school system the author was suggesting the aim of the education is to indoctrinate the public. I have just finished reading an article (link below) that says a teacher has NO constitutional right to express personal opinions (free speech) in the classroom.

Here’s a quote from the article:

A teacher’s speech is “the commodity she sells to an employer in exchange for her salary,” the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in January. “The Constitution does not enable teachers to present personal views to captive audiences against the instructions of elected officials.”

I wonder how many professional teachers working today would know this? I wonder, if they did know this, if they would say they comply with the law and DO NOT express personal opinions in the classroom?

If I interpret this properly this ‘law’ says that a teacher must ONLY say what they are approved to say by the local School Board. I presume the local School Board takes their mandates from the State School Board, which in turn takes their cues from the Federal Board of Education.

What does this mean to the anyone that is interested in changing education (or transforming education)?

Here’s the article:

Supreme Court denies hearing for fired ‘honk for peace’ teacher
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer • Tuesday, October 2, 2007
An elementary-school teacher who was dismissed after telling her class on the eve of the Iraq war that “I honk for peace” lost a U.S. Supreme Court appeal Monday.
The justices, without comment, denied a hearing to Deborah Mayer, who had appealed lower-court decisions upholding an Indiana school district’s refusal to renew her contract in June 2003. The most-recent ruling, by a federal appeals court in Chicago, said teachers in public schools have no constitutional right to express personal opinions in the classroom.

And, if one is involved in education something like this would again make it seem like the only people that know what is good for young people are the people in charge – not the teacher in the classroom.

Taking this to the extreme, as I have suggested in previous posts, the education system is not set up to teach people to think. It also appears that the system isn’t designed for people in the system to think either.

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