Legal Rights & Responsibilities of Georgia Educators

It’s essential to be aware of your legal rights and responsibilities as a Georgia educator. PAGE General Counsel Jill Hay shares this great information to know…

Contracts

Educators must have a signed contract of employment to teach in a Georgia school system. Contracts are binding agreements between an educator and the state or local employer. A contract can be terminated by:

• Mutual agreement, which means by resignation of the employee and acceptance of the resignation by the employer; or

• Dismissal from employment for cause.

Resigning without the employer’s consent constitutes breach of contract and abandonment of position. In such cases, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission may sanction one’s teaching certificate and the school system may pursue legal action for breach of contract or seek liquidated damages — if permitted by the contract.

Tenured and Non-Tenured Employees

Contracts have a one-year term; there is no guarantee that you will be offered a new contract. That situation changes if the educator has signed four consecutive, full-year, full-time teaching contracts in the same school system; or if the employer has failed to notify the employee of nonrenewal of contract for the fourth year by May 15. Once the employee has signed a fourth, full-year, full-time consecutive contract by the same employer, he or she enjoys “tenure,” which means that the school system must renew your contract year after year, unless good cause for non-renewal can be shown.

If a tenured employee transfers to a different school system, the time needed to become tenured in the new system is shortened to one year plus the acceptance of a second-consecutive contract; or if the employer failed to notify the employee of nonrenewal of contract for the second-consecutive year by May 15.

A school system can choose to non-renew the contract of a non-tenured teacher by sending written notification of non-renewal by May 15. Upon the request of a non-renewed employee, state law requires local systems give a written explanation for the reasons of non-renewal.

Charter and Strategic Waiver systems/ schools can be exempt from the state law that affords an educator tenure. If an educator teaches in one of these districts, he or she should consult their board policies to see if the district still retains the right to tenure.

Termination and Suspension

An educator may have his or her contract terminated or suspended for the following reasons: incompetency; insubordination; willful neglect of duties; immorality; inciting, encouraging or counseling students to violate any valid state law, municipal ordinance or policy or rule of the local board of education; reducing staff due to loss of students or cancellation of programs; failure to secure and maintain necessary educational training; or any other good and sufficient cause.

An educator may have his or her contract terminated or suspended for the following reasons: incompetency; insubordination; willful neglect of duties; immorality; inciting, encouraging or counseling students to violate any valid state law, municipal ordinance or policy or rule of the local board of education; reducing staff due to loss of students or cancellation of programs; failure to secure and maintain necessary educational training; or any other good and sufficient cause. A suspension without pay must be preceded by formal charges and a hearing. A temporary relief from duties is always given with pay and occurs when the educator’s alleged conduct is of such a nature that his or her continued presence in the classroom or administrative office is indefensible. In the case of temporary relief from duties, a hearing to adjudicate the charges must be made available to the educator within 10 working days after he or she has been relieved from duty.

Insubordination is the willful nonadherence to a reasonable direct order issued by a proper authority. More often than not, insubordination and willful neglect of duty go hand in hand.

School Board Records

Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Law, all state, county, and municipal records (except exempted records) are open for inspection by any Georgia citizen. The person in charge of the records has up to three business days to determine whether a requested record is accessible under the law.

Records not subject to public disclosure include the following:

• Records that reveal a public school employee’s home address, home phone number, Social Security number, insurance, or medical information.

• Performance evaluation records. (Performance evaluations shall not be transferred to another employer or potential employer unless authorized in writing by the person who was evaluated.); and

• Confidential evaluations/references submitted in connection with the hiring of an employee. The right of privacy extends only to freedom from unnecessary public scrutiny. It does not protect a legitimate inquiry into the operation of a government and those employed by it.