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 school officials reinforce traditional values among students, and school district policies generally require that teachers serve as positive role models. Based in part on such requirements, the supreme court of Colorado upheld the dismissal of a tenured teacher for immorality, because she violated board policy by drinking beer with students while acting in her official capacity as cheerleader sponsor (Blaine v. Moffat County School District RE No. 1, 1988). This case represents one of many that stand for the proposition that teacher misbehavior outside the school that reduces teachers' capacity to serve as positive role models can justify reprimands or dismissals as long as procedural and substantive due process rights are not violated. Against this backdrop, the interpretation of teachers' constitutional rights-such as freedom of expression, freedom to express religious views inside or outside of the classroom, and freedom of association-continues to evolve.