The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has ruled that a teacher’s behavior management efforts did not violate her students’ constitutional rights.
The case involves an Ohio special education teacher whose educational and disciplinary methods for her students with autism included strapping a student to a toilet, gagging another student with a bandana to prevent him from spitting, and forcing a third student to sit with her pants down on a training toilet in full view of her classmates. The actions took place during the 2003-04 school year.
The three-judge panel described the methods for the 6-11 year-olds as “inappropriate, insensitive, and even torturous” but non-the-less rejected the constitutional claims of the students.
A classroom aid reported the questionable techniques to school and state authorities, at which point the teacher was suspended with pay for one year. The Ohio Department of Education concluded its investigation with a consent agreement in which the teacher denied wrongdoing, but agreed to complete 20 to 30 hours of college-level special education coursework.
Parents of the three children sued claiming violations of the student’s 14th Amendment due-process rights.
A federal district court found that the teacher “almost certainly engaged in child abuse,” but ruled that the violations did not rise to the level of violating the Constitution. The 6th Circuit court agreed. In its decision, the court said the claims against the teacher were mitigated in part by the fact the she had a pedagogical justification for her techniques.
Read the Court’s decision: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0006p-06.pdf
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