Goss V Lopez Court Case

Case # 73-898, Goss v Lopez

Goss vs. Lopez was a very significant hearing that not only went to Federal Court, but also on to Supreme Court for a final ruling. The case was brought about after nine students were suspended for ten days without any kind of hearing or parental notice prior to their suspension. The reason these students were suspended was because they caused destructed damage to school property and it was getting out of control. However, Ohio’s law did not require the principle to conduct a hearing prior, but, many people felt that the students fourteenth amendment was violated and, because of that, the principles actions were challenged.

In federal court the judges ruled that the student’s rights were in fact violated and that the school was in the wrong, because of this the case was appealed and then moved on to the Supreme Court. The federal court felt that the principle violated the students’ due process and that they should have held a hearing before suspending. In the Supreme Court, Thomas Bustin, who defended the students’, argued, that the students had the right to know why they were being suspended and that suspending them without a proper hearing was wrong.

The main issue that the Supreme Court had to decide on was whether or not the school violated the students’ due process rights when suspending the nine students without any formal hearing (Oyez 2011). In my opinion I would say that the school was wrong, I believe that the students deserved a proper hearing regardless of the situation. I think that the principle jumped to fast on the situation and didn’t properly suspend the students in the manor that they deserved. Although the students were doing wrong, and deserved to be suspended, they also deserved to have a chance to explain and defend their actions. The principle just suspended the students for ten days without even knowing perhaps, the whole story.

In closing the Supreme Court ruled a 5-4 vote for Lopez (who was one of the students involved in the case) (Oyez 2011). They felt that Ohio had no right to take away their citizens’rights or violate their fourteenth amendment. The court also felt that the students deserved a proper hearing prior to their suspension and that the principle was out of line with the way he handled the situation. The court agreed that the principle should have called for a proper hearing prior to suspending the nine students and he should have given them a chance to speak on their behalf.

This court case has become a huge case because of the result that it caused. Not in any way did the Supreme Court side with Lopez and the other eight students or condone what they did, but it was important to determine that students are equally deserving of their rights (CaseBriefs LLC 2013), especially when they are involved in disciplinary actions that could potentially lead to legal issues such as this case. The court ruled on Lopez’s behalf because they felt that the students’ rights were violated and that the principle didn’t go about the situation in a professional manor. Everyone has rights and amendments that they are entitled to and what happened at this Ohio school caused many people to reevaluate just exactly what they are.

I am glad that the court ruled on Lopez’s behalf because I believe that the students should have had a formal hearing. I don’t think that there is any excuse as to why they were being destructive, but I do believe that a formal hearing should have been held before being suspended. The students had no say or even any notice as to why they were being suspended and I believe that the principle went about that in the worst way possible.

Work cited:

CaseBriefs LLC (2013). Goss V Lopez. CaseBriefs. Retrieved from

http://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/constitutional-law/constitutional-law-keyed-to-chemerinsky/fundamental-fights-under-due-process-and-equal-protection/goss-v-lopez/

Oyez (2011). Goss V Lopez. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Retrieved from http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1974/1974_73_898/.

Journal # 5

I do firmly believe that teachers should be beholden to a code of ethics. I believe that it is our duty to be professional and positive role models for our students. Without a code of ethics I’m not really sure how many teachers may be fit for the position. I think that it is just important to be professional when you are in the field of education because children look up to you, they idolize you, and many want to grow to be like you one day. If you weren’t professional, why would parents or even the students want to look up to you? I believe that it is important teachers follow the code of ethics because they play a huge part in children’s lives and these children will always remember teachers, whether it was for their professionalism or how bad they were.

I know that I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be. I will strive to make sure that I follow the code of ethics to a tee because I want my students to remember me for good things. I want them to be able to look up to me and to look at me as a role model. I believe to a positive influence and good educator means that you are professional and strive to be a role model for your students. I know that I will never forget some of my teachers in the past because they were very unprofessional, however, I remember other teachers because of how professional and caring they were towards their students. For example, my second grade teacher hated teaching. She was always yelling at us and never had a positive thing to say. She scared me and I never wanted to speak because I always felt my answers weren’t good enough. She, to me, was very unprofessional and for that I will forever remember how rude she was. My first grade teacher on other hand loved when we gave our input. She asked us questions all the time, she had us help her and participate frequently. She always recognized when we did something good and she made it known that she cared for all the students. For this, I will always remember her class and to this day she is still my favorite teacher!

I also believe that teachers need to follow the code of ethics for certain things that may occur in the classroom, or even outside of the classroom. If a teacher is going to report child abuse she/he needs to be aware of the students feelings as well as how the parents will react when and if social services thinks the case is strong enough to go through with. The teacher needs to be sensitive to that student as well if it is true that they are being abused. Abuse with children is a very touchy subject and many children won’t come out and say that they are being abused. They normally hide behind the pain and struggles and secretly pray that someone will help them. Child abuse is such a hard subject and it’s hard to believe that people actually commit it! However, it happens all the time and it’s something that teachers need to be aware of, especially the signs. Being professional is only going to make the child who may be being abused feel comfortable and cared for. That is especially important because this child may not get this attention at home and that’s tough to deal with on its own.

I also think it’s important to follow the code of ethics because children can get out of hand. They will speak what they want and depending on their background, they may be completely out of control. As a teacher you can’t lash out on them, they are only children. You just need to calmly speak to the child about his/her behavior. This is where punishment comes into play and teachers have to be professional. I don’t believe in corporal punishment and I am so glad that NY State doesn’t allow it as well, but I do believe that students need discipline for doing wrong. When it comes to punishing your students, I believe that teachers need to be able to do it in a professional manor so that the students learn, but, still respect the teacher and understand why he/she is being punished. I think the code of ethics is extremely important for educators to follow and I know that when I do become a teacher I will make sure that I am following the code of ethics and I hope that I will be the best role model I can be for my students.

Interview paper

I really enjoyed Mr. Browley coming into our classroom to speak to us. I thought the answers he gave to our questions were very honest and interesting. I really enjoyed hearing his input on what makes and effective teacher as well. He told us to just “be yourselves, do the best job that you can do, and if an older teacher offers advice, take it!”  He also said to not sweat the evaluations; the more nervous we are the more likely we will mess up. It’s better for us to just be relaxed and do what we know how to do best, teach. I think this is very important because many teachers do get nervous during evaluations. I feel like if I’m doing the best I can, and giving it my all while still being myself, I should be fine.

Mr. Browley was the Oneonta superintendent for 8.5 years before retiring. He is now back at Oneonta high school as an interim superintendent for only 10 months. He was only retired for 13 months when he chose to go back and he says he doesn’t mind it. I thought this part of the interview was very interesting. He said he wakes up early, some days 4:45, and he doesn’t get home until 11:30-12:00 at night. When we asked him if he regretted every leaving his teaching career to become a superintendent, he replied “some days I second guess it, if you would ask me what I had more fun doing I’d tell you teaching and being with the children, but, the superintended has more positives and I leave a bigger effect on the students now than I did when I was their teacher.” I liked how he opened up to us and explained to us in detail his job. He was honest with his responses and that is something that I appreciate and am happy he did because it gave me a better experience.

My uncle is actually the president of my school board back home. He is really good friends with my superintendent so my family and I are actually friends of the superintendent as well. He has spoken with me prior to me graduating high school and just told me to shoot for the stars and to be myself. I find that very inspirational because he knows what it takes to be a good teacher and he believes in me! He has also spoke to me on many things that Mr. Browley brought up in the interview. I am glad that I had the experience to be somewhat close to my superintendent because it helped, and it still continuing to help, me become the best teacher I can be. Mr. Browley had great words to say for all of us as well, and I think he knows that we all have the potential to be great educators, considering were education majors! I’m just glad that we got to hear it from the head person so now I have a clearer picture of what I should be doing.

 We had touched on this a bit in class, how to act, how to get hired and how to be professional, but Mr. Rowley really explained what schools are looking for. He stated that in order to be a candidate for a teaching position at his school, you need to be yourself. You need to go into the interview with a strong head on your shoulders and be very confident and relaxed. He said that he wants to make sure you are a very qualified human being who enjoys kids to the fullest, takes criticism and advice from others and has an amazing personality. If he believes you do, then he will hire you and you will be put on a 3 year probation which in those 3 years you need to prove yourself. If you prove to be the same person from the interview, than you will most likely get offered tenure. If after those 3 years you do not get offered tenure, chances are you will no longer be teaching in that district. In these 3 years however, you also have to prove to be an effective teacher. Your students should excel and be able to reach growth and achievement. You also need to be a team player, your students should be getting along with one another, you should be getting along with your staff and faculty, and you need to keep your personality from the interview. These are the most important traits that you need to be able to get tenure. I believe this is the best advice to receive as a future teacher. It helps me to prepare for my interview process and what should be expected from me in those years leading up to receiving tenure.

When Mr. Browley spoke about the budget there were many connections that I made to the article we had to read for Journal 2. The budget is a huge deal for schools and I think it’s safe to say that it is for Oneonta too. Mr. Browley said that it is just going to get worse and there really isn’t anything they can do about it. I fully agree because NYS doesn’t really seem to put in the actual effort in for schools which kind of leaves them all in the dust. Schools are struggling finically and it’s just getting worse. They are not receiving the proper funds from the government to help them function which is leading to many closings state wide. These issues not only go along with the article we read for journal 2, but they also go hand in hand with our chapter 13 in the book. The government doesn’t give enough funding to schools where needed, especially special education. I think that our government should re-evaluate their funds and consider helping schools out a little more. Schools deserve money, plain and simple and the government doesn’t seem to believe they deserve a lot. However, the government pushes for everyone to continue their education through college yet the prices are ridiculous and many people can’t afford it. I just don’t think it’s fair and I think that something needs to be done. The education system is getting worse and worse lately and I don’t see it going up anytime soon. I’m not sure why they don’t seem to think these issues are a big deal. Budgets are causing many teachers to lose their jobs and many schools to be closing. I believe the government needs to step in and do their part instead of just sitting back and watching.

The interview went on and so many good questions were asked and answered, but, overall I thought the interview went very well. I appreciate Mr. Browley coming in to speak to us and giving us the inside scoop. He was a very nice guy and I’m glad we actually had the chance to meet him and conduct this interview. Becoming a teacher is such a scary and nerve wrecking process, especially with all these teacher evaluation tests (which Mr. Browley thinks are dumb!). It felt good to just be reassured that I am in this major for the right reasons and that I will find a job. With the way society has been going lately, teaching jobs especially, I feel good in knowing that there is still hope and that I will someday be able to accomplish my dreams!