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EDU 210 Portfolio Artifact #2

Jessica Brooks

CSN Online Campus

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In an American high school filled with predominantly black students and staff a new

teacher has been hired on, Ann Griffin. Mrs. Griffin has been recommended for dismissal based

on the administrative staff’s concern of her ability to treat students fairly based on her statement

that she has always “hated all black folks”. The administration is also questioning her judgement

and competency as a teacher. Principal Freddie Watts, an African-American fear's that this Mrs.

Ann Griffin will not be able to treat students with color in an appropriate manner.

Mrs. Ann Griffin is not in any way affiliated with a group or in membership with others

that show a direct hatred for African-Americans. Mrs. Ann Griffin should not be discriminated

against based on one claim that she gave in a heated conversation with another teacher. In the

court case Melzer v. Bd. Ed. Of the City Sch. Dist. Of the City of N.Y., Mr. Melzer was a

teacher who had been terminated on his active membership and participation in the North

American Man/Boy Love Association. Mr. Melzer showed the school board that there was a

reason for suspicion and that his actions would make the student uncomfortable and that his

public views on the such issues would make him less effective at his job. Mrs. Ann Griffin on the

other hand has shown that she is not part of any organization that shows discrimination to

colored students and has proven through her years of teaching that she can still show all her

students the same and equal treatment that a teacher should. By Mrs. Ann Griffin not associating

herself with any negative memberships she should not be dismissed from the high school.

Although Mrs. Griffin is now known for her discriminatory comment, her speech was not

meant to sway others in her opinions and that her speech was not to the entire school. Unlike the

court case Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, the student Matthew Fraser had made a

speech to the school that had been full of obscenities and innuendoes that were inappropriate to

be said at school. When Fraser went to court against the school, the Court had deemed that he
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spoke offensive views about the students and was advocating his unpopular views in the

classroom. Fraser has shown that his views failed the “substantial disorder” part of the Tinker

test and therefore should have him dismissed from the school, Mrs. Griffin on the other hand did

not voice her opinions of her hatred of a race to the entire school, nor in the classroom. Mrs.

Griffin spoke in confidence to another teacher about her opinions on race. This shows that Mrs.

Griffin should not be dismissed from the school on the fact that her speech was not voiced in a

public arena and she was not trying to persuade any other faculty or students to believe in her

point of view. Mrs. Griffin still shows socially appropriate behavior towards the staff and other

students and this should be considered of her speech that has only been spoken once to another

teacher.

However, in a similar case to Mrs. Ann Griffin and the high school has also been in the

Supreme Court before in the Loeffelman V. Board of Education of the Crystal City School

District. In the Loeffelman case the teacher, Ms. Loeffelman, who was also a tenured teacher,

had been terminated from her indefinite contract based on her opinions on biracial relationships

and biracial children. During a class discussion, a student asked on Ms. Loeffelman’s opinion on

biracial relationships, where she answered that she disproved of them and continued to voice her

opinion on why they were not in her favor. Later that evening Ms. Loeffelman called the

student’s mother that she opposed interracial relationships and that the females in the

relationship should be “fixed” to not have children. Ms. Loeffelman was then terminated from

her contract based on her inappropriate, unprofessional and discriminatory remarks. Both Ms.

Loeffelman and Mrs. Ann Griffin had willfully violated the Board Policy 1300 and the Board

Policy 2130. Under the First Amendment teachers do have the right to freedom of speech:

however, they should not direct their comments towards a specific group that they directly work
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with. Mrs. Ann Griffin should be dismissed based on her discrimination and disruptive speech

towards students and other staff.

Mrs. Griffin has shown that she has a hatred for all black people. This speech should not

go untouched as it is directed at a group of individuals that make up most the school student and

staff population. In the Supreme Court case Pickering v. Board of Education, Marvin Pickering

had been terminated from the high school for writing a letter that criticized the superintendent

and the school board in the misuse of the schools funding. The Supreme Court had later

overturned the dismissal of the teacher because his speech was not directed at the people in

which he normally worked with and that is was not disruptive to the school’s operation, unlike

Mrs. Griffin’s speech that has been directed at a specific group of people who she did directly

work with. Mrs. Griffin should be dismissed from the school on the fact that her speech did

disrupt the everyday operations of the school and caused discrimination towards the students of

the school.

Furthermore Mrs. Griffin has shown that she is a capable teacher that has made a

mistake in her speech to another educator. No one is perfect and we should consider the speech

that was said between the two educators and proceed with the hearing on the accounts that Mrs.

Griffin did voice her opinions to another educator regarding race, but has not shown any other

sign of discrimination towards the staff and students of the high school. I believe that Mrs.

Griffin should not be punished based on one piece of a conversation. I believe that as educators

we make mistakes and those mistakes are misrepresented and twisted by others. As a school, the

staff should not dismiss Mrs. Griffin unless she poses more unfavorable behavior and speech

towards the students and staff of color.

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Reference

Reuters, Thomas. “FindLaw's United States Supreme Court Case and Opinions.” Findlaw,

Thomas Reuters, 1986, caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/478/675.html.

Webb, L.D ((2006). School Law for Teachers Concepts and Applications. New Jersey: Pearson

Education, Inc.