Causes for the dismissal of teachers, which have traditionally been judged to be within the discretionary power of school boards, have been closely scrutinized in recent court decisions. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted in recent litigation concerning faculty hiring, evaluation, and dismissal, such that "tests" used for those purposes cannot be arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. The purpose of this paper is to examine recent changes in state statutes and trends in judicial decisions under the framework of this interpretation of the Due Process Clause. In addition to a presentation of legislative acts and judicial rulings, guidelines for the evaluation and dismissal of professional staff are discussed. (Author/MLF)