Privacy Rights of Teachers

It is commonly believed that teachers, especially in public schools, enjoy a measure of privacy in their personal lives. The freedoms that teachers have on the job regarding what and how they may teach, what they may do and say, what organizations they may join, even what they may wear are under scrutiny and face growing challenges. Within the context of privacy rights, teachers may exercise personal choices, ranging from living with a person of the opposite sex to other lifestyle choices. The constitutional rights considered among the most basic for all include freedom of expression, religion, and association and freedom from discrimination.

Recent years have seen a movement toward reem-phasizing teachers' responsibilities as moral exemplars in and out of school. Many parents have demanded that ...