Educators have strong First Amendment rights to engage in political activity on their own time and in their personal capacity. But courts still balance an educator’s right to free speech against a school’s interests in controlling the speech.

Educators can participate fully in elections and campaigns. They may support and endorse political candidates. Public employers cannot punish their employees for their political affiliation whatever it may be. However, as with other forms of activism, school employees must engage in political activity on their own time and should not use school resources. While staff members generally have the right to speak as private citizens on matters of public concern, statements made by staff members pursuant to their official job duties generally are not protected by the First Amendment.

It is important to review your county’s policy on political activity. Some policies outright prohibit all political activity, including the distribution of literature, on school grounds at all times.

Here are some guidelines to help navigate this election season:

• Using school email or other school owned electronic systems to disseminate political messages or petition requests on behalf of a candidate is prohibited.
• School employees may wear non-disruptive campaign buttons at school if not prohibited by county policy. School employees should not wear t-shirts with political messages or slogans at school because the employees likely will be seen as speaking (via the message on their shirts) in their roles as employees of the district. In all cases, it is best to refrain from any political activity in which it may appear that a school employee is using his or her public position to advocate for a particular political view.
• School employees may place campaign stickers on their own cars that they drive to work. Vehicles with conspicuously large campaign signs may be asked not to park in places of high visibility;
• School employees may not pass out leaflets or other campaign materials to students or other school employees.
• The use of school time, equipment, supplies, facilities, or social media accounts for any political campaign activity, including the promotion of levies or bonds, is prohibited.
• Campaign signs may not be displayed on school grounds.
• Schools can organize voter registration drives so long as students are not influenced to register with any particular political party.
• Teacher-led discussions during class time regarding political issues are appropriate, depending on the circumstances. These discussions should only occur in classes where the topic is appropriate as part of the established curriculum, should remain age-appropriate, and should not promote or advocate for a particular viewpoint. For instance, discussing the presidential election may be consistent with the curriculum for a high school civics or government class, but such a discussion would likely not be appropriate in a math or science class. Any curriculum-related political discussions should be presented to students in a purely informational way as a teacher may not advocate for his or her personal viewpoint before a classroom audience.
• In most cases, teachers may post political content on personal social media pages but must take care to ensure that social media pages are private and do not represent that the content is posted in their capacity as public school employees.

If you have questions about a specific issue, reach out to your organizational development specialist for further guidance.