Rights of Students

Freedom of Speech

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) was one of the first U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting the rights of students. The Court ruled that students do not lose First Amendment rights to freedom of speech or expression when they enter public school. Students have the right to express their political and ideological views unless the expression interferes with school discipline.

The Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) that public school administrators have the right to censor student expression in any school-sponsored publication or activity. The Tinker decision deals with a student's right of personal expression on school property, and Hazelwood establishes the authority of public school educators over school-sponsored publications. The Court established censorship criteria for school-sponsored publications.

School officials do not have the right to censor non-school-sponsored student publications. Students have the right to distribute materials they have prepared, including religious material. Public schools can limit the distribution of student publications according to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. Time, place, and manner restrictions must be content neutral, must not restrict all distribution of a particular type of communication, must show a substantial state interest justifying the limitations, and must be narrowly tailored so that the state interest is furthered and no more free speech expression is limited than necessary.

Right to a Public Education

The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides that states cannot “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” States have created a property right to attend public school by mandating that children attend school between certain ages. States or public schools cannot deprive a student of the right to attend public school without due process of law. Due process of law has two parts: procedural due process and substantive due process. When the state tries to deprive an individual of a property right, such as the right to attend public school, the state must notify the individual of any charges, provide an opportunity to counter the charges, and give a fair hearing. Under substantive due process, the state must be able to show that it based its actions on a reasonable goal or purpose and that the action is needed to reach that goal.

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