Student's Facebook Rant Protected by First Amendment

In 2007 a senior at Pembroke Pines Charter High School, Katherine Evans, created a Facebook page on which she claimed one of her teachers was "the worst teacher I've ever met. To those students who have had the displeasure of having Ms. Sarah Phelps, or simply knowing her and her insane antics: Here is the place to express your feelings of hatred." A few days later, Evans removed the page. Two months after Evans had removed the page, the principal suspended Evans for three days for cyber-bullying a staff member and removed Evans from the AP English class. Evans filed suit against the principal asking that the suspension be removed from her record. The principal asked for the suit to be dismissed.

Earlier this week a federal magistrate weighed in on the case and declared, "Evans' free speech falls under the wide umbrella of protected speech. It was an opinion of a student about a teacher, that was published off-campus, did not cause any disruption on-campus, and was not lewd, vulgar, threatening, or advocating illegal or dangerous behavior," and that Evans' rant "falls under the wide umbrella of protected speech." In other words, Evans' rant was protected under the First Amendment. Therefore, the suit against the principal will not be dismissed but rather will be allowed to move forward once it is amended so that it no longer requests a removal of the suspension from her record.

At this point, the story has garnered national attention and the ACLU is involved. I believe, and so do a number of experts on First Amendment law, this case will be important.

As I've processed all the articles and information about this case over the last few days, here are some points that are worthy of consideration. I'm not weighing in on any of these but am offering them up for thought and for discussion.

• Did the school's student handbook expressly prohibit students from referencing the school or school employees on a website or social media site? If so, would (should) this even be an issue now? If not, on what basis did the principal punish Evans?
• Did the school's principal err in his judgment to suspend Evans for three days (and remove her from her AP English class) considering first, the Facebook page came down only a few days after it went up; second, the page contained nothing but her opinion and was, in fact, neither alarming nor obscene; third, the incident was dealt with two months after the page came down?
• Would events have unfolded any differently if the principal discovered the page, asked Evans to remove it, and Evans complied? Would events have unfolded any differently if the principal had discovered the page, asked Evans to remove it, and Evans refused?

I will be watching this story carefully and will post updates as they become available.

On a side note, I find it only fitting that Evans currently is enrolled in the University of Florida and is studying journalism.

If you're interested in more articles about the case, click HERE.

Gladwell's Outliers Provides Plenty of Food for Thought

I'm going to add another book to my list of recommended books for educational leaders: Malcolm Gladwell's fascinating and astounding Outliers. In this book Gladwell explores the topic of outliers, or, as Gladwell says, "men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August."

Gladwell examines professional hockey players, musicians, entrepreneurs, lawyers and more, all of whom are considered exceptional. What Gladwell discovers is, in my opinion, incredible. To put his findings in a brief summary, Gladwell argues the following about outliers:

Outliers must be smart enough or talented enough, not always the smartest or most talented

Outliers, almost without exception, are not only smart enough or talented enough but also are presented with extraordinary opportunities and circumstances during the course of their lifetime (birth date, geography, cultural heritage, and more)

Outliers share a magic number of 10,000 hours of work or practice at whatever it is that makes them uniquely successful

Outliers have the desire and drive to work more than others when presented with the opportunity to do so

On some level, Gladwell debunks the myth of the self-made man by explaining how some of the greatest self-made men were affected by all of the factors I listed above. It should be noted that the accomplishments of the outliers should not be considered any less extraordinary but, rather, just perceived differently.

So, what does this book mean for educational leaders? When we look at our student populations we should remember a few key points:

• Extraordinary future success (academic, athletic, artistic, etc.) will not be limited only to the most gifted, most intelligent, etc., but instead will be available to all who are gifted or intelligent enough.
• Those who are gifted and/or intelligent enough must be presented with as much opportunity as possible while they are within our sphere of influence.
• While parents certainly play a major role in providing opportunity, schools must take seriously the responsibility to provide opportunity for students.
• Providing adequate opportunity for students will require a great deal of resources, much energy, and much creativity; differentiation is not easy.

Also of interest to educators, Gladwell discusses culture and its impact on individuals and regions, information that may help answer puzzling questions about a school's students and their parents. Additionally, Gladwell presents some interesting information regarding year-round schooling and its effects on kids. There is far too much information in Outliers to cover in a single blog post so I will leave you with a simple challenge: add this book to your reading list.

Next Generation of Educational Leadership Named One of 50 Best

The Next Generation of Educational Leadership has been named one of the 50 Best Blogs for Education Leaders by Online Universities. There are many fantastic blogs listed on the 50 Best list so I recommend you check out the list today.

Thanks, Online Universities, for including this blog on your list.