Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities Presenter: Renae Mattson, PhD Tuesday, February 2, 2016 Brandman University, Santa Maria Campus

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities A quick internet search of “teachers’ legal rights and responsibilities yielded over 15 million results. To better understand the specific legal rights and responsibilities, it would be prudent to contact the district where you will be, or hope to be, teaching. Here is a general overview of California teachers’ rights and responsibilities:

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities Every resource out there says the following, so I felt I should say it, too: this presentation provides general information and is not meant to be legal advice. In any proceedings in your position as a teacher, you have the right to request legal counsel, or at the very least, a union representative!

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities There are innumerous legal rights and responsibilities for teachers, so, for the sake of our time constraint, we will only look at a few under each of the following categories: in the classroom, in relation to administration, and in relation to parents. For a more in-depth look at all the legal rights and responsibilities of teachers, the California Education Code is a great place to look.California Education Code

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the Classroom Teaching is a very autonomous profession. You will be charged with the care and education of children and with this comes great responsibility. From my experience in the classroom, I would like to highlight the legal rights and responsibilities that might be most pertinent to you: student grading, student suspension, record student discipline, and mandated reporting.

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the Classroom Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to student grading. The California Department of Education website says it best: “ The grade given to a pupil by the teacher of the course (in the absence of clerical or mechanical error, bad faith, incompetency, or fraud) shall be final. Neither the local governing board nor superintendent shall order a grade changed without first giving the teacher who has assigned the grade the opportunity to state orally or in writing the reasons for which the grade in question was given ”California Department of Education

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the Classroom Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to student suspension. There are degrees of infractions for which teachers can remove students from their classrooms. “State law gives teachers the means to protect a disciplined environment”. Education Code states, “Suspension shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct”.

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the Classroom Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to recording student discipline. First off, you will need to clearly communicate classroom rules, procedures and behavior expectations, as well as fair and equitable consequences for deviations from these expectations, to both parents and students. For everyone’s benefit, keep detailed and ongoing record of any deviations and subsequent disciplinary actions.

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in the Classroom Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to mandated reporting. As an educator, “a report must be made when the reporter, in his or her official capacity, suspects or has reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected”. There are a lot of gray areas, but my advice to you is always, always contact an administrator if you see any signs or suspect any possible abuse and/or neglect.

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in Relation to Administration Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to administration include the right to have a union representative present for any meeting that might lead to discipline and to seek legal counsel should the meeting reflect any grievances. The specifics for your rights and responsibilities with regards to administration should be requested from the district where you will be working.

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in Relation to Parents Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to interactions with parents: ▫“Any parent, guardian, or other person whose conduct in a place where a school employee is required to be in the course of his or her duties materially disrupts classwork or extracurricular activities or involves substantial disorder is guilty of a misdemeanor” California Education Code

Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities in Relation to Parents Your legal rights and responsibilities as they pertain to interactions with parents also protect you during meetings with parents. If you feel uncomfortable during a parent meeting, you should stop the meeting and demand an administrator or union representation attend any and all future meetings with this parent. You should also keep meticulous notes on any parent meeting conducted.

Unions: Nation-wide and California specific NEA: National Education Association ECEK-12University CTA: California Teachers Association

Unions: Nation-wide and California specific AFT: American Federation of Teachers ECE/K-12 Council Adult Education Council Community College Council CFT: California Federation of Teachers

Unions’ Role in Teachers’ Legal Rights and Responsibilities Ideally, a union’s role in teachers’ legal rights and responsibilities is to act in the best interest of the teachers. Unions are not advocates for the students with whom teachers work, which sometimes makes unions less than popular with the public. However, they are your voice and your advocate, protecting you in a profession that keeps you under a microscope.

Additional Resources National Education Association California Teachers Association American Federation of Teachers California Federation of Teachers

Additional Resources California Department of Education Teachers’ Rights: A mini guide Development/~/media/Documents/PDFs/Prof%20Dev%20Pub%2 0PDFs/TeachersRights%20MiniGuidepdf.ashx Development/~/media/Documents/PDFs/Prof%20Dev%20Pub%2 0PDFs/TeachersRights%20MiniGuidepdf.ashx Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect e/laws-policies/statutes/manda/ e/laws-policies/statutes/manda/