[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Teacher's Rights: Disciplining Students
The Teacher Liability Protection Act would immunize negligent teachers, principals and administrators when their misconduct injures students. Not only this radical measure make teachers unaccountable to parents, it preempt the laws of all fifty states with little or no justification for such a sweeping exercise of federal control.
There is no need to create a special immunity for teachers, principals, and administrators. The states, which for more than two centuries have had dominion over tort law, already have ample protections in place for their educators and administrators. Washington should not dictate judicial policy to state courts and state legislatures, and it should not dictate classroom disciplinary policy to local school boards.
The American Federation of Teachers states there is no crisis challenges whether legal immunity is really needed, stating that they don’t think fear of lawsuits is keeping teachers from doing their jobs. Teachers have ample liability insurance either from their union or the school district, or both.
The National Education Association believes that no problem exists, and that teacher liability is a state issue. State law already covers the issue of teacher’s liability. The National Education Association does not believe that suits against teachers and school officials are a widespread problem or that a federal law is required. If the teachers themselves are not asking for this bill, why should the federal government intervene?
Teachers and principals do not need federal immunity the long established doctrine of sovereign immunity shields governmental entities, such as public schools, from liability for negligence. Laws passed by the fifty states already protect teachers and school officials from liability for negligence, including negligent supervision. And as the Justice Policy Institute and the Children’s Law Center recognized in their joint report issued last year that neither federal nor state courts have shown any significant change in their rulings.............
