Are you allowed to speak to the media?

[MissCeliaB]

In your contract, is there any kind of clause about speaking to the media without district permission, or about participating in surveys without district approval? It occurred to me this morning, after reading an interview with a teacher that I found to be especially perplexing, that she could possibly be fired in my district if she did not have approval for the interview. I am welcome to say whatever I want as a private citizen, but not during school hours, and not as an official representative of the district or my school. I try to avoid posting about educational issues where my name is attached to the account, and we are not allowed to post about political issues during school hours, though I occasionally do during my planning period, again not officially representing the school, but anonymously online. I'm betting the district where that teacher teaches is wishing they had a similar provision, as she did not present herself very well at all. What do you guys think about this?

[callmebob]

In what situations would someone be interviewed during school hours? When is there really time for that?

[stampin'teacher]

The past two schools I've worked at have been private schools with some elite clients, so in our employee handbook it discusses what we are allowed to say. Basically that we can't confirm or deny who goes to our school. I don't believe it's explicitly in our contract though.

[HeartDrama]

I can think of two examples related to this..
The first was my aunt, who at the time was the P of a high school. There was no teacher union in that state. A parent was upset about something that happened to her daughter and went to the media. On the 11pm news, there was a news report about the unfair treatment of this student with my aunts face plastered all over the TV! I saw it and called my aunt who had no idea about the news story. She said she had to let the district handle it, as she would not be allowed to comment directly. She said she wouldn't have anyway because the claims were baseless and unfounded.

The second was last year during all the Occupy hoopla. This woman spoke to the tv cameras and said she was an employee (teacher?) in the LA USD. She made some horrible comments about Jews and was fired.

I found the article about it, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1020252.html

[catnfiddle]

If I wasn't comfortable, I'd make a quick call to our school's PR guru and see what he thought. He usually trusts my ability to speak my mind and keep my job / school in a positive light. I'm pretty sure he knows I'm on here and doesn't have a problem when I post stuff about school openings or details of my job.

[HistTchr]

I believe there is a clause in our teachers' contract prohibiting any communication with the media.

[JustMe]

No such wording in mine.

[mopar]

We have no wording regarding contact with the media in our contract. However, our superintendent and principals do tell us to not speak with the media and allow the district to handle situations involving the media.

[KinderCowgirl]

I remember reading something to the effect of absolutely no talking to any media outlets without the district's express consent in our contract.

[readingrules12]

We are not allowed to talk to the media without permission at my private school. I did talk to the media with my principal's permission, in a situation a few years ago. At my former public school, we were told not to talk to the media by our P, but I am not sure if it was just her or if it was policy.