Judge rules against principal forced out of New York City’s first Arabic-themed school
In a preliminary ruling, a judge has ruled against the claim of the founding principal of New York City’s first Arabic-themed school that her right to free speech was violated when she was forced out during a furor over comments she made in a newspaper interview. Federal district court Judge Sidney H. Stein ruled against Debbie Almontaser, who had been principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn. Ms. Almontaser’s suit against Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, saying they violated her First Amendment rights by pressuring her to step down after discussing the history of the word “intifada” during an interview. She had been criticized for not condemning the use of the word on a T-shirt. The judge said that Ms. Almontaser had participated in the interview as school principal, and that because her employer was responsible for supervising messages to the public, her speech was not protected. Ms. Almontaser has insisted that the intent of her words about intifada have been distorted. The judge, though, noted that she had been instructed by the schools’ public relations staff not to discuss the T-shirts. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) criticized the judge’s ruling. “This is just another example of how recent Supreme Court rulings are undermining constitutional rights in general and First Amendment rights in particular,” said Christopher Dunn, NYCLU’s associate legal director. Judge Stein also refused Ms. Almontaser’s request to bar the city from looking for a new principal.
New York Times By Associated Press
[Editor’s Note: The 2006 U.S. Supreme Court case to which Mr. Dunn presumably alludes is summarized below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Garcetti v. Ceballos