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Publication Date

4-3-2026

Document Type

Casenote

Abstract

Few settings test the limits of free speech more sharply than public schools, where questions of personal identity, government authority, and constitutional rights often intersect. Because the government has an interest in regulating what its employees do and say, First Amendment protections afforded to government employees are diluted in comparison to those afforded to private citizens. A contemporary example of this tension is the question of whether the government may regulate a public-school teacher’s use of pronouns or titles in their own classroom.

In 2023, Florida enacted a statute forbidding teachers from using pronouns or titles that differ from the sex listed on their birth certificates. The statute directly affected Katie Wood, a transgender high school teacher who referred to herself as “Ms. Wood” and used “she/her” pronouns in her classroom. Wood sued, claiming the law violated her right to free speech. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ultimately disagreed. In Wood v. Florida Department of Education,  the court held that when a teacher uses pronouns or titles while addressing students in the classroom, they speak as a government employee—not as a private citizen. Because the court classified such speech as occurring “on the clock,” the court concluded it is not afforded protection under the First Amendment, and as a result, Florida’s law could not be challenged on those grounds.

As a matter of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit, the court defined the scope of a teacher’s official duties, and by doing so, became the first court in the United States to classify a teacher’s use of personal pronouns and title as government speech. Wood’s reach extends beyond Florida: by treating nearly all in-class communication as being made pursuant to official duties, the Eleventh Circuit gave public schools—and potentially other government employers—broad discretion to regulate their employees’ words. Accordingly, Wood has the potential to alter the environment of many public-school classrooms.

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