On Feb. 4, 2026, FHS and HHS students participated in a walkout during fifth block to protest ICE, which resulted in hundreds of student protesters. Many of the faculty were aware of this and even sent out an email to all students and parents regarding students’ right to protest and how to go about attending this peaceful protest.

While students were able to walk out, teachers and staff were not. This begs the question: Should teachers be allowed to participate in protests? Although teachers represent the face of the school and are meant to act in a way that does not go against its policies, they too have opinions and beliefs. Teachers are humans too, and not just workers for a school. They have voices and thoughts beyond the lessons they teach. They have families and are a part of these communities that are being affected by organizations like ICE. Regardless if they are being affected directly or not, students and other people in the US are having to deal with their families being torn apart. A teacher going out of their way to protest for the sake of humanity shows their support and care for the well-being of their students, regardless of background or status. 

However, a common argument is how parents, faculty and students feel about teachers having particular beliefs and opinions. Each school has a certain image to represent. Generally, they are meant to stay neutral in global situations in order to ensure safety among their students and not allow their personal biases to affect the curriculum. 

Under the California Education Code and related labor rules, teachers are considered public employees and are not allowed to leave their assigned work during their instructional hours of the day. If teachers fail to work or report to their duties without permission, they will face disciplinary consequences such as losing their jobs. This law ensures that students who do not participate in protests will get their deserved education and supervision. 

The First Amendment states that citizens have the right to five core freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. Certain California laws contradict the First Amendment, which leaves the question of why teachers cannot protest. Teachers have the right to protest, yet the state law says otherwise. It is incredibly unjust for the government to enforce state laws that go against its own citizens. 

Schools should not take away the right and ability for teachers to protest. Schools have created excused absences and have substitutes for a reason. They are meant to take over for a teacher’s class in case of absence. Substitutes ensure that teachers’ lessons get taught. Protests do not occur over multiple days, typically lasting for one or two blocks of the school day. If a teacher wants to protest, the worst possible backlash they should receive is deducted pay for the hour or day they missed. 

There should not be such heavy and unfair consequences if a teacher would like to protest. They should be allowed to stand for what they believe in. The Bill of Rights was made to protect the rights of American citizens. They were put in place to ensure Americans would never face a tyrannical central government that threatened individual liberties and allowed for censorship. It has been unchanged for 230 years and will likely never change because this legislation holds a high value of importance in American beliefs. How can a country that encourages freedom not allow its own citizens to freely speak the opinions they believe in? The freedom of speech and protest promotes democracy and ensures that voices are heard and not silenced by those in power.