Politics of Curriculum

Elementary and secondary education in the United States is a state function sanctioned through each state's constitution. As such, primary authority over curriculum content rests with state legislatures. To varying degrees, all state legislatures share their control of the curriculum with state and local school boards. The broader contours of public school curriculum are dictated through state statutes and board (both state and local) policies. Contemporarily, these contours may be influenced [Page 714]by a variety of factors, including state and national standards, federal legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act (Public Law 107–110), and citizen advocacy such as efforts to promote or to exclude the teaching of evolution in public school science curricula. Because of such variables, the issue of academic freedom and the curriculum within schools has become a focus for educators, parents, and the wide variety of constituents with concerns about what is taught in schools.

Educators are required to teach the curriculum as prescribed by the state legislature, the state board of education, and the local board of education. Educators' rights to academic freedom are limited in this domain. Academic freedom more broadly encompasses the rights of educators and educational institutions to decide who may teach, what may be taught, how it may be taught, and what students are permitted to study in that institution. With regard to public elementary and secondary education, academic freedom has been curtailed to the “how” of teaching—pedagogy. Teacher academic freedom over pedagogy is subject to district review and can be curtailed if found to be offensive or otherwise inappropriate.

Broader conceptions of academic freedom vis-à-vis curriculum issues have been recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court, but only in the context of higher education. In higher education, “the robust exchange of ideas” is a central component of the educational experience. This uniqueness of higher education was reiterated in Justice Roberts's plurality opinion in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District. He distinguished the purposes of voluntary desegregation plans challenged in Seattle and in Jefferson County, Kentucky, from a law school's affirmative action admissions plan upheld in Grutter v. Bollinger.

While defining the higher education context as unique, however, the Court has been limited in its articulation of the contours of academic freedom in curricular content, particularly in regard to elementary and secondary education. Although teachers generally are free to teach within the contours of the prescribed curriculum, unilateral omission of curricular components can result in termination of employment. Moreover, teaching beyond the prescribed curriculum may incur increased liability risks, especially in the areas of religion and politics. Following the Supreme Court's precedent in Garcetti v. Ceballos, lower courts have extended the curtailment of employee speech and expression rights in the classroom. Most recently, the Seventh Circuit upheld the nonrenewal of a probationary teacher's contract for relaying to students her intent to attend an antiwar rally. While the conveyance of such information could potentially spark debate among students and encourage the development of critical thinking skills, such a “robust exchange of ideas” at elementary and secondary levels appears to be outweighed by judicial concerns over teacher-to-student political (or religious) inculcation not clearly aligned with state and local sanctioned curriculum content. Educator First Amendment speech rights are limited to curricula approved by the state and local board. A teacher's permission to bring controversial current events into his or her classroom to spark discussions and help students develop critical thinking skills appears to be more limited as a result of recent court decisions that limit teacher speech to the approved curriculum. This may curtail the ability of educators at the elementary and secondary levels to develop student critical-thinking abilities.

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