This document discusses ethics, law, and common issues that teachers may face from legal and ethical perspectives. It addresses what defines ethical conduct for teachers, their responsibilities under the law, and how the law relates to issues like child abuse reporting, the use of reasonable force, copyright, freedom of expression, and student rights. The document also covers considerations around teacher lifestyle and behavior, student privacy, religion in schools, and how federal laws can influence K-12 education. Overall, the document provides an overview of the complex legal and ethical landscape that teachers must navigate.

1. Ethics in Education and
Matters of Law – Chapter 9
Ebert, E., & Culyer III, R. (2014). Ethics in Education and Matters of Law.
In School: An introduction to education. Belmont: Wadsworth.

2. Ethics
• What defines you as an ethical person?
• What principles guide your life?
• How do those principles impact your interactions within your
personal and your professional lives? With your students, their
parents, and your colleagues? Within your community?
• Should teachers ascribe to a code of ethical conduct? Why or why
not?
• How is social justice exhibited in classrooms? How do teachers fail to
provide social justice for the students in their care?

3. The Law
• Understand the law as it relates to your responsibilities as a teacher
and as a professional
• Remember! We are a litigious society. For your protection, it would
behoove all teachers to have insurance or access to legal
representation for any number of possibilities.
• What assaults to tenure for teachers have been happening in North
Carolina? What makes a teacher eligible for tenure in North Carolina?
What are the pros and cons of tenure for teachers?

4. All Too Common Issues
• Child Abuse
• By law, teachers are required to report suspicions of child abuse.
• Teachers are protected from being sued or prosecuted for reporting child
abuse as mandated reporters.
• Reasonable Force
• When students fight, a teacher must balance stopping the fight to protect the
students and keeping him/herself from being injured.
• Teachers have the right to self-defense, but “reasonable force” is a factor.

5. All Too Common Issues (cont.)
• Copyright Laws and Fair Use
• Media specialists or other professionals can keep teachers apprised of the latest laws
as they relate to copyright and fair use.
• The laws may or may not be clear as quickly as technology is evolving
• Freedom of Expression
• Know the culture in which you are working. Even if the law is on your side, poor
judgment can cause more problems than most teachers want to face.
• Any freedom of expression that disrupts the business of schools will likely be
prohibited
• Academic freedom is protected as long as topics are being treated objectively and as
learning tools for critical thinking, inquiry, and understanding of varying perspectives.
(Again - a teacher may prefer to use sensitivity and cultural awareness in many
circumstances)

6. All Too Common Issues (cont.)
• Teachers as Models
• Lifestyle – Teachers certainly have rights as individuals, but. . .
• Teachers are generally held to higher standards within a community, so
teachers should certainly use good judgment
• Teachers must always be aware of their behavior with and around students.
The wise teacher
• Keeps a door open at all times when in a room alone with a student.
• Knows and understands ethics as related to teaching and working with students.
• Considers appearance and perception in any actions as they relate to working with
students.
• Acts as a professional at all times when working with and around students
• Remember! A teacher is not a student’s friend! That does not mean a
teacher cannot be friendly.

7. The Law As It Relates to Students
• Students (and their parents) have the rights of due process
• School attendance is compulsory; any suspension or expulsion
contradicts this expectation and must be handled according to
policies and procedures that follow the law.
• Female students may not be dismissed from school for pregnancy,
thanks to Title IX. How does this compare to your parents or
grandparents days in school?
• Many states still permit corporal punishment (think culture again).
Again, what do your parents and grandparents remember? What
about those paddles with the holes in them?

8. The Law As It Relates to Students (cont.)
• What is allowed to be searched? Seized? What is the teacher’s role? What
is best left up to administrators and/or law enforcement?
• Free speech and expression for students may not disrupt school nor the
rights of others, but must otherwise be allowed. What should a teacher do
if a student writes a disturbing essay or journal entry?
• Students have to right to come to school without fear of sexual
harassment. Again, what is a teacher’s role? What about the
kindergartners who are suspended for kissing a fellow student? How do
we discern the difference between harassment and harmless flirting for
middle or high school students? What about the gay or transgender
student who is being bullied and harassed – a very serious topic in our
schools right now?

9. The Law As It Relates to Students (cont.)
• When and with whom may teachers share a student’s grades and records?
Parents have the right of access to their child’s official records, but not the
unofficial records a teacher may keep for use within the classroom. (think
formative assessments)
• Schools are not allowed to share identifiable information about its students
• Note: once a student is out of the public schools and 18 years old, parents
do not have the right to access their child’s college records without written
consent from that “child”. Many parents are surprised by this, especially
since so many are continuing financial support of their student.

10. More Considerations
• Religious challenges to the law continue. Religion may not be taught
in public schools, but some religious content may be taught from
historical or literary perspectives.
• Religious clubs may be allowed to meet on campuses, but other
groups must receive the same access. All groups must adhere to
policies of the school and may not be disruptive to the operations of
the school.

11. Federal Laws
• Federal laws influence many areas of our schools, even though
education is a state responsibility
• Some important areas
• GI Bills and other Higher Education areas
• Schools in areas where there are many federal employees such as military
bases
• Various laws that have evolved from court cases related to civil rights
• Education for all children, including those with handicapping conditions or
who are at risk (Response to Intervention) for learning deficits
• Laws and monies to support compensatory education for ELL, low income
and other students needing remediation
• Emphasis on certain subjects and topics as related to historical and social
events (Sputnik, Civil Rights, nutrition, drop-out prevention, etc)