How did the school violated the Ms. Long's (teacher) First Amendment right to Free Speech? 

Assistant Superintendent Danni Sky was not looking forward to giving testimony in the case of former Rivendell third-grade teacher Johnna Long.  Although Johnna Long was not a special education teacher, she quickly gained the reputation of being a real advocate for the increasing number of IEP students at Rivendell.  Unfortunately, she also chose to voice her complaints about Principal Bill Sears's leadership, the lack of clear objectives on lEPs, safety concerns for IEP students, and the lack of adequate facilities for IEP students to anyone who would listen, including parents.

 

Bill Sears had worked several years modeling a culture of cooperation and collaborative decision making at Rivendell.  Consequently, he listened to Johnna's concerns.  He had personally assessed the facility for safety concerns, reviewed the campus safety plan, and assessed the particular safety needs of special needs students.  He asked the district special education coordinator to evaluate several lEPs and implemented her suggestions.  Bill had dutifully communicated his review and conclusions to the faculty and had written a letter home to parents explaining the reason for the changes he was making. These efforts did not seem to placate Johnna, and during the last week of school she presented Bill with a revised facilities plan complete with room changes to accommodate special needs children at Rivendell, the moving of several teachers' room assignments, and a revised lunch schedule. Johnna told Bill that several teachers, as well as the special-education coordinator, had been involved in the revision and that she had the support of most of the staff.  Bill had no knowledge of these discussions, and he told Johnna that he was not going to make changes this late in the school year.

 

Bill's response did not meet with Johnna's approval.  At the end of the year, she sent a 10-page letter to Assistant Superintendent Danni Skyy outlining her concerns and criticizing Bill's efforts to improve education for IEP students.  Johnna's performance-based teacher evaluation during that year was satisfactory. However, during the second year, Bill began describing Johnna Long as a "real pain."  He also became more critical of her teaching performance.  At the April school board meeting, Bill and Danni Sky recommended that Johnna's probationary contract not be renewed for the next school year.  Johnna immediately contacted her union representative and the union attorney. Johnna complained that she had been retaliated against by Principal Sears and Assistant Superintendent Sky for her efforts to protect and advocate for special needs students at Rivendell. The union attorney claimed that the district had violated Johnna's First Amendment rights and had unlawfully retaliated against her for protected speech.