Education Law
Educ. 777.1X
Professor Michael J. Costelloe
Spring, Semester 2007
Frederick C. Wright
Case Summary Unit 7
 Full Name of the Case and the Court of jurisdiction:
Pickering v. Board of Education, Supreme Court of the United States, 391 U.S. 563
 Parties to the case: Plaintiff(s); Respondent(s) and Amicus curiae if any
Appellee: Township High School District 205, Will County Illinois.
Appellant: Marvin L. Pickering, a teacher.
Amicus curiae: (Pro reversal) American Civil Liberties Union.
 Brief description of the issues in the case:
Marvin L. Pickering was fired because he wrote a letter to local newspaper. The letter
criticized the Board of Education’s previous proposals for funding. He also complained
that the Superintendent attempted to prevent teachers from talking about these issues in
public. Also, Pickering’s complaint was that the Board was not completely honest about
the information given to the public in reference to educational and athletic programs that
the tax increases for the schools were for. He had a hearing and then was dismissed. The
Board stated that some of his claims of facts were wrong and also determined that the
publication of the letter was "detrimental to the efficient operation and administration of
the schools of the district" (Morte). And therefore, an Illinois statute stated that "interests
of the school require[d] [his dismissal]." (Morte.)
 Decision of the highest court hearing the case:
The US Supreme Court disagreed with the Illinois court. The court found in favor of the
Appellant, Pickering. None of Pickering’s actions/statements were found to impede the
operation of the district.
 Significance of the decision for schools and school authorities:
The main significance of this decision is that a teacher may not be dismissed from a
public job on the basis of speaking about an issue. This is true even if the statements may
contain erroneous information about a district.
Added: that you can’t use protected information that normal people can’t access- that
impedes the function of the school or district.
 Sources of information:
1. Morte, Micheal. School Law. 8th Edition. Boston: Pearson, 2005.
2. “391/563” Findlaw.com. Copyright © 1994-2007 FindLaw. 08 April 2007
<http://findlaw.com>
3. PICKERING v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, 391 U.S. 563; 88 S. Ct. 1731; 20 L.
Ed. 2d 811; 1968 U.S. LEXIS 1471; 1 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 8