Due Process Rights: Teacher Dismissal

Basic procedural due process in disputes over the dismissal of teachers usually includes notice of intended actions, the right to some explanation for proposed adverse employment actions, and the dismissed individuals' rights to respond to the planned action. Teacher dismissals refers to the termination of employment contracts either during academic years for just cause or, for teachers with tenure, at the end of a given school year. Such employment actions are considered dismissals at the end of academic years, because tenure, sometimes referred to as continuing contract status, entitles teachers to an expectation of continuing employment from year to year. This entry discusses the evolution and application of due process in teacher terminations.

Reduction-in-force (RIF) is the term used when the basis for teacher dismissals deals with organizational factors and not with any personal fault on the part of individuals who may have property rights in their jobs. In the RIF process, for example, tenured teachers could be excellent and have done nothing wrong, but their employment contracts are terminated without cause due to such factors as declining enrollment or the discontinuation of programs. Depending on state law and board policy, tenured and nontenured teachers are placed on call-back lists, meaning, typically, that if their jobs become available again, they must be given the opportunity to be returned to their jobs before others can fill the vacant positions.

When school boards elect not to renew the expiring contracts of teachers who have yet to achieve tenure, this is not a termination, because the employment relationship has run its course. Accordingly, these teachers have no right to procedural due process, unless it is conferred by state law or collective bargaining contracts. For instance, Ohio provides basic due process rights to teachers whose contracts are not renewed.