Photograph by Steven Higgs

Former MCCSC teacher Deb Mayer has appealed her dismissal to the Supreme Court. She was fired in 2003 for talking with her middle school students about the war in Iraq.

Deborah Mayer, who was fired in 2003 from her probationary teaching position at Clear Creek Elementary School for telling students that she "honked for peace" when she saw anti-war signs downtown, recently attended the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) conference in Washington, D.C.

She did not, however, attend any of the thought-provoking workshops detailed on the AFT Web site. Instead, she decided to grapple with the challenges facing educators across the United States in a slightly different way - by meeting with small groups of teachers between sessions.

Two years ago, her case was the focus of national attention, garnering the support of high-profile peace advocates such as Cindy Sheehan and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. But now, four years after her struggle for the recognition of her First Amendment rights began, Mayer is forced to engage with teachers during break time.

The AFT denied her request to speak directly to teachers attending the conference.

Mayer has faced many challenges both inside and outside the courts since her firing, including a lack of support from major institutions such as the National Education Association (NEA), the AFT and the ACLU, and an overall absence of media coverage and lack of knowledge of her case.

"Not one teacher has heard of my case," Mayer wrote in a July 13 blog entry on MySpace, referring to her experiences at the AFT conference, which took place July 13 through 15. "Not one teacher knows we have lost free speech at school. It is so depressing. They are in different stages of disbelief. When I tell them the AFT has refused to inform teachers, they don't really understand the implications."

The AFT, which has refused to support Mayer in her efforts, is not the only teachers' union that has chosen to not inform its members of her case. The NEA has also kept its members in the dark.

"I suppose the reason that it hasn't been publicized is that it's nothing different or new from the cases we've been dealing with since 1998," said Michael E. Simpson, assistant general counsel for NEA.

In fact, Mayer's case is only one in a long line of court decisions that have slowly chipped away at teachers' rights.

Simpson also said the NEA "is deeply and greatly concerned about the free speech rights of teachers in the classroom. We know from experience that when teachers have the freedom to challenge students, students more readily learn."

Though the NEA will not financially assist Mayer with legal fees, as she previously had been a member but was not when the firing occurred, Simpson said the NEA will probably file a legal brief in support of Mayer if the Supreme Court takes the case.

The ACLU, despite Vonnegut's advocacy on Mayer's behalf, also failed to come to her aid because, according to Mayer, "They said that I couldn't win the case."

However, she added, "I think people have the idea that the ACLU has more resources than it does, and at the time they were swamped with Guantanamo."

Mayer's case directly impacts the lives of teachers, students and parents throughout the country.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled that Mayer’s right to express her views is “qualified in the workplace by the requirement that expression not disrupt an employer's business unduly.”

Mayer and her lawyer, Michael L. Schultz, appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which found “The First Amendment does not entitle primary and secondary teachers, when conducting the education of captive audiences, to cover topics, or advocate viewpoints, that depart from the curriculum adopted by the school system.”

Mayer appealed to the Supreme Court on June 11.

“She felt that the decisions of both lower courts had been wrong and that justice had not been done,” Schultz said, explaining why Mayer decided to appeal.

The likelihood that the Supreme Court will hear the case, however, is not high.

"I doubt that they'll take the case," Schultz said. "The Supreme Court has a track record of not taking this issue, and they've just taken a number of high-profile free speech cases."

Mayer is also doubtful that the case will end up in the Supreme Court this fall.

"I think the courts will probably not even consider it because it would require them to make some really hard decisions and do some really hard work," Mayer said.

Another issue are mistakes that Schultz said were made by the lower courts.

He said these missteps include Barker’s decision to include parent complaints against Mayer – none of which were shown to her during her employment – despite the fact that they were not germane to the case and should not have been included.

Additionally, according to Schultz, only one of the parent complaints was filed while Mayer was teaching at Clear Creek. The school board did not come forward with the other four parent complaints until after the lawsuit had been filed, he said.

There were mistakes made by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals as well, Mayer argues.

The judges said Mayer was warned about sharing her opinions regarding the Iraq War with her class prior to her mentioning the need to consider peaceful alternatives before entering war. In fact, Mayer was told to keep her personal views to herself only after she had made the comment, Schultz said.

The legal significance of Mayer's case is twofold, according to Schultz. While it only has legal authority over Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, its national impact is monumental.

"Judge Barker's opinion in this case said that teachers never have First Amendment rights when they're teaching," Schultz said. "It's the first time that I'm aware of that there had been this kind of federal ruling."

Barker's opinion can also be cited by school boards in support of suppressing teachers' rights to free speech in future cases throughout the nation, Schultz said.

Regardless of these obstacles and others, Mayer has no intention of giving up.

"I want to get enough people, especially teachers, to know about my case, so that they can write letters, hold protests, whatever, to tell the justices that we demand a decision," Mayer said. "I just don't want to give up this fight until I know I have done everything I could to stop this from happening."

Elizabeth Henderson can be reached at ehenderson@slc.edu.