In "Hosford," a teacher led a discussion with 3 13-year-old boys in a special-needs class about words with multiple meanings that included obscene ones. The teacher's contract was not renewed. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in the teacher's favor and declared that primary and secondary school teachers have enough academic freedom…

Analyzes the California Supreme Court case "Randi W. v. Muroc Joint Unified School District." The court determined that letters of recommendation, which had omitted mentioning allegations of improper sexual conduct with students, were deceptively incomplete. Writers of letters have three choices: refuse to write a letter, write a fully…

Reviews four recent cases decided in state and federal courts. The cases focused on due process in student suspensions, the use of unlawfully obtained evidence in disciplinary hearings, unacceptable methods for handling personnel conflicts, and the application of voluntary affirmative action policies during periods of staff reduction. (PGD)

A recent Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals decision stipulates that a school board may regulate "employe expression" only in rare circumstances--to prevent, for example, serious disruption of school activities--and only where the board has allowed for a timely review of the superintendent's decisions about distributing…