Educator Rights to Create an Inclusive Classroom

By: National Education Association

Published: 04/05/2023

This resource originally appeared on NEA.org

Educators often use decorations to set the tone for their classrooms, school buses, lunchrooms, and other workspaces. You can use your work environment to show support for students of all backgrounds—for example, by hanging a Black Lives Matter poster or Pride flag or making clear that you will use a student’s personal gender pronouns.

However, schools can control these messages, which are on school property and part of a teacher’s job. And displays that include religious, political, or controversial messages raise particular concerns and you should not post them unless there is a clear district policy allowing those or similar displays.

“When someone doesn’t learn about LGBTQ topics in school, they’re not going to think of this community as a common, expected part of society—and this goes on to form their ideas of what’s socially acceptable.”

—Samuel Long, a Denver high school teacher

Symbols of Diversity & Inclusivity

Displaying a Black Lives Matter, DREAMers, or Pride flag or poster is a great way to show your support for students and let them know that your classroom will be a safe and welcoming space. Many school districts or school boards have official policies in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Those schools may specifically encourage displays of inclusivity.

For example, the Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin has chosen to support transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive youth. The district made beautiful posters, which are on display in school buildings across the district.

Similarly, the public school districts in Seattle and Chicago have policies in favor of diversity and multiculturalism. Both districts encourage schools to create welcoming environments for all students. Chicago specifically notes that displays in the hallways and school bulletin boards should reflect the school’s diversity.

It is important to keep in mind that schools control displays in classrooms, school buses, lunchrooms, and other spaces where educators interact with the student body. If you have not seen others posting similar items in their classrooms, make sure to tell the appropriate school administrator before posting, so that you can address any concerns that they may have.

Your school might prohibit workplace displays such as flags, signs, symbols, or buttons at school—for instance, a Black Lives Matter poster in the classroom or a rainbow Pride button worn during the school day.

Whether such prohibitions are lawful will depend on whether there was a pre-existing policy, and whether that policy is viewpoint-neutral and applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner.

For example, a school’s demand that an educator remove an inclusive flag or poster would likely be legal if there was a written policy prohibiting all non-district sponsored materials and the school had asked educators to take down materials representing other viewpoints as well.

On the other hand, a local union in Oregon was recently successful in challenging a ban on educators displaying Black Lives Matter and Pride symbols; the school board unanimously voted to rescind the policy after settling a lawsuit with the union that alleged the policy violated educators’ constitutional rights and would be enforced in a discriminatory way.

If your administrator objects or your school has specific policies against displaying these types of signs, consult your union representative about how best to proceed. You may face discipline if you knowingly violate school rules.

Although schools control what messages can be displayed, you can push your school administrators and school boards to adopt and support messages of inclusivity. NEA has developed model school board resolutions to support honest and inclusive education practices and to LGBTQ+ youth and immigrant students. These policies have been adopted in some form by a number of school boards throughout the country.

Also note that schools can and in some instances must prohibit teachers from posting messages that are discriminatory.

A teacher in Los Angeles posted items condemning homosexuality in response to the messages supporting LGBTQ+ students featured on bulletin boards as part of the district’s Gay and Lesbian Awareness Month. The school principal ordered him to take the items down. The teacher sued but lost because the bulletin boards reflected the school’s policy—and the school did not have to include messages that contradicted its own policy.

1 Know Your Rights, Madison Metropolitan School District, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxQaX4hYfVJaajE3SjhvbWQ3T29yNi1XSkhMWXJjNWR6OUdv/view (last accessed Sept. 27, 2022).
2 Seattle Public Schools, Ensuring Educational and Racial Equity, Policy No. 0030 (Nov. 4, 2020), https://www.seattleschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/0030.pdf; Chicago Public Schools Policy Manual, Multicultural Education and Diversity, Section 102.2, Board Report: 91-1023-PO1 (Oct. 23, 1991), https://policy.cps.edu/download.aspx?ID=88.
3 In Lee v. York County School Division, 484 F.3d 687, 700 (4th Cir. 2007), the court held that the First Amendment did not apply to certain classroom displays because they were “curricular in nature” and thus were part of an ordinary employment dispute, rather than a matter of public concern. The court also held that the postings “plainly constitute[d] school-sponsored speech bearing the imprimatur of the school,” because “they were constantly present for review by students in a compulsory classroom setting” and “students and parents are likely to regard a teacher’s in-class speech as approved and supported by the school.” Id. at 698. See also Johnson v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., 658 F.3d 954, 966-70 (9th Cir. 2011) (holding that the First Amendment did not protect a teacher’s classroom displays because, though they constituted speech on a matter of public concern, decorating a classroom was speech as part of the teacher’s official responsibilities, not speech in his private capacity).
4 Gary Allen, Union settles lawsuit against Newberg School District, board, Pamplin Media Grp. (Jan. 16, 2023), https://www.koin.com/news/education/union-settles-lawsuit-against-newberg-school-district-board/.
5 E.g., Prince George’s County Board of Education, Resolution Regarding Black Lives Matter at School, https://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/pgcps/Board.nsf/files/AVJKN2527B44/%24file/Black%20Lives%20Matter%20at%20Schools%20Week.pdf (last accessed May 24, 2022); D.C. State Board of Education Recognizes the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (Mar. 28, 2019), https://www.dcareaeducators4socialjustice.org/news/dc-state-board-education-resolution-black-lives-matter; William Penn School District Board of School Directors, Resolution Supporting Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools (Jan. 22, 2018), https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1593459126/williampennsdorg/papdybya3t9rd9sylsac/ResolutionJan2018.pdf; Policy 443: Creating Welcoming and Affirming Schools for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students, Board of Education of Frederick County, Md. (2019), https://apps.fcps.org/legal/documents/443.
6 Downs v. L.A. Unified Sch. Dist., 228 F.3d 1003, 1006 (9th Cir. 2000).

Using Students’ Requested Name and Personal Gender Pronouns

LGBTQ+ students may request that educators refer to them by specific personal gender pronouns such as she/her, he/him, or they/them, or use a different name than the name that is on a class roster.

As long as there is no school policy stating otherwise, address students in the way they identify themselves to show that you respect them and are a person they can trust.

Educators may also introduce themselves to students using their personal gender pronouns or include their pronouns in an email signature or other prominent place to let students know that the classroom is a safe place for everyone no matter how they identify.

In recent years, school boards have adopted policies to prevent educators from referring to students with the names and pronouns they identify with and to bar educators from sharing their own pronouns.

Because schools can control most of an educator’s in-classroom speech, check with your local union if your school or district has such a policy, as knowingly violating school rules may result in discipline.

That said, such a prohibition may violate state or federal law. Forbidding the use of certain pronouns or names may amount to discrimination based on gender identity, in violation of Title IX and possibly other state or federal anti-discrimination laws. In addition, such a policy may not be consistently applied.

For example, a school may have a policy that only a student’s given name can be used in the classroom unless a parent has authorized use of another name. In this case, to enforce the policy in a nondiscriminatory way the school would need to request permission from the parents for a student named John wanting to be called Johnny, as well as for a transgender student wanting to use a name that better matches their gender identity.

Your local union can help you identify whether such a policy is lawful and if not, how best to challenge it. Remember that speaking out at local school board meetings is an important advocacy tool. You can also advocate for your school to adopt an affirmatively inclusive policy, such as NEA’s model policy supporting LGBTQ+ students.

Remember that affirming students’ identities is extremely important and valuable. Consider asking all students at the beginning of the school year to indicate how they would like to be referred to, including any nickname or preferred name and pronouns, so that transgender or gender non-binary students will not feel singled out. If school policy prohibits doing that, consider other ways of addressing students in an inclusive manner.

For example, an educator might refer to all students by their last name, or might use students’ names instead of pronouns. Additional information from NEA on how to support LGBTQ+ students can be found here.

7 Emily Rizzo, Central Bucks West tells teachers not to use students’ preferred names and pronouns without parental approval, WHYY (Sept. 15, 2022), https://whyy.org/articles/central-bucks-west-students-pronouns-gender-policy/; Evan Casey, Community outraged after school districts says pride flags, pronouns in emails aren’t allowed for staff, Wisconsin Public Radio (Aug. 18, 2022), https://www.wpr.org/community-outraged-after-school-district-says-pride-flags-pronouns-emails-arent-allowed-staff.

Promoting or Endorsing Religion

You do not have the right to display materials in the classroom that promote or endorse a religion. In fact, the Constitution prohibits public schools from endorsing or promoting religion.

Because context matters, displays can mention religion and God without endorsing religion. Eight states require classrooms and schools to display America’s motto, “In God We Trust.” Those same words may promote religion, depending on the display.

One teacher in California posted banners emphasizing religious references in America’s founding documents. He displayed one banner stating “IN GOD WE TRUST”; “ONE NATION UNDER GOD”; “GOD BLESS AMERICA”; and “GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE”; and another stating, “All men are created equal, they are endowed by their CREATOR." The court held that the overall effect was clearly to promote religion. It upheld the school’s order that he take the posters down.

Educators should carefully consider what message their displays send and take care to avoid creating displays that explicitly or implicitly promote a single religion.

8 Johnson v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., 658 F.3d 954, 966-67 (9th Cir. 2011) (holding that a teacher’s two banners promoting religion were on a matter of public concern, but that, by posting them in his classroom, he was acting as a public employee, not a private citizen). In Lee v. York County Sch. Division, 484 F.3d 687, 700 (4th Cir. 2007), the court held that the postings “plainly constitute[d] school-sponsored speech bearing the imprimatur of the school,” in part because, “students and parents are likely to regard a teacher’s in-class speech as approved and supported by the school.” Id. at 698.
9 Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 583–84 (1987) (relying on the Establishment Clause, which prohibits federal, state, and local governments from enacting any law respecting an establishment of a religion).
10 John Hanna, Kansas considers requiring ‘In God We Trust’ in classrooms, Associated Press (Jan. 30, 2020), https://apnews.com/87de52f3fe4c2e6f12dcaf35ee857ada.
11 Johnson, 658 F.3d at 958-59, 965.

Political Messages

You should not post any political endorsements in your classrooms.

Schools have an interest in remaining politically neutral. Political endorsements in the classroom violate that interest.

As with religious materials, not all displays that refer to politics are political endorsements. For example, a government or civics teacher might bring in yard signs from a variety of campaigns in order to have her students compare different styles and messages, but could not put up signs for just one political candidate to show her support for that candidate.

Whether teachers can display nonpartisan but potentially controversial messages in class will depend on school district policy and school administrators.

If you are concerned about a particular message that you plan to post, check with your union first and consider letting a school administrator know of your plans to get their explicit or implicit approval in advance of the posting.

This page is intended to provide general information. For specific advice, you should always contact your local union or attorney.