U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal of Ohio teacher fired over religious materials in class

[Ms. Toad]

10. Tell that to Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. This has been the unmistakable holding of this Court for almost 50 years.

Since that ruling was in 1969, make that 95 years that schools are, in fact, limited free speech zones.

The question is where you draw the line between speech which disrupts education enough that it is permissible to restrict it. Certainly teaching math in history class to the exclusion of history would be disruptive - although since I taught English (reading and writing) in my math class even that example does not have bright line rules. Personal bible in a desk drawer? On the desk? Cross worn as a necklace? Angel pin? Posters on the wall? (And it doesn't have to be religious examples. You can walk through the same exercise with political beliefs, or most anything else.)

(The Tinker case, in case you aren't familiar with it, is the one which allowed the Tinker children to wear black armbands protesting the war in Vietnam.)