EDUCATION PORTFOLIO ARTIFACT #2 COURT CASES 1

Education Portfolio Artifact #2 Court Cases

Alayna B. Rivera

College of Southern Nevada

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A white teacher, Ann Griffin, got in a heated conversation with two African-American

administrators and stated that she “hated all black folks.” Word then leaked about her statement

and it caused a negative out roar of reactions among her colleagues who were both black and

white. With this, the principal recommended dismissal based on concerns regarding her ability to

treat the students fairly.

As found in the textbook, in Loeffelman v. Board of Education, the school board

concluded to terminate a teacher, Jendra Loeffelman, due to willingly violating a board policy by

engaging in discriminatory conduct and making disparaging racial comments. This is similar to

what Ann Griffin had done. There is not much of a difference between the two, they both

willingly made a racial comment that effected the people around them. So, Ann Griffin should

not be treated differently than Jendra Loeffelman has.

Also found in the textbook, Meltzer v. Board of Education states that the school board

upheld the school districts decision to terminate a teacher due to his membership in a group that

was potentially disruptive to school operations and his effectiveness as a teacher that could make

his students feel uncomfortable. Although this case doesn’t have to do with racial comments,

both Ann Griffin and Melzer both have done something that disrupted school operations and

could make their students feel uncomfortable.

The textbook writes in chapter 3 that in Pickering v. Board of Education, The Supreme

Court decided that teachers, like citizens, have the right to make critical public comments on

matters of public concern. Depending on how Ann Griffin wanted to play out her side of the

case, she could argue that her comment was a form of freedom of speech that she didn’t truly

mean and didn’t undermine the effectiveness of the working relationship. In the case, Marvin
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Pickering wrote a newsletter criticizing the superintendent. Ann criticized her colleagues and

was practicing her freedom of speech in the heat of the moment.

Lastly, in Garcetti v. Ceballos the supreme court decided to involve the First

Amendment, Freedom of Speech, protections for government employees. Like said previously,

Ann Griffin could argue that her statement toward her colleagues was just practicing her first

amendment right and didn’t mean any further harm then what she said. Although what she said

was wrong, the question is how far past the first amendment does it go?

In conclusion, I believe that Ann Griffin should be terminated from her job. Like

concluded in In Loeffelman v. Board of Education, a teacher that makes a racial discrimination

willingly, should not be able to keep working and having other colleagues and students in that

environment. That being said, I hope the court sees that she should not be able to make those

types of comments and continue to work at that school.

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Reference Page

Justia US Supreme Court Center. (2006, March 21). Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006).

Retrieved May 30, 2006, from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/547/410/

Underwood, J., & Webb, L. D. (2006). School law for teachers: Concepts and applications.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.