Public school teachers have free speech rights. What they don’t necessarily have is a constitutional right to turn classroom walls into personal advocacy space.

That’s the takeaway from a federal appeals court ruling Monday siding with a New York school district that ordered teachers to remove their pride flags and stickers from classrooms in 2022.

Three teachers sued the Connetquot Central School District after officials restricted classroom flags to the American and New York state flags. The teachers argued the policy violated their First Amendment rights and was selectively enforced against LGBTQ teachers.

The Second Circuit disagreed.

According to a report from the Patch website covering the case, the court ruled classroom wall decorations are connected to teachers’ official duties and therefore constitute government speech that the district may control. In other words, the classroom belongs to the school district, not the teacher’s personal Pinterest board.

The judges also found the teachers had not plausibly shown the policy was enforced against them because of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Importantly, the ruling doesn’t give schools control over everything teachers express. The court distinguished classroom decorations from personal items such as a Pride pin worn by teachers, religious clothing or a photograph of a same-sex spouse.

So teachers remain free to express themselves. They just don’t get unlimited decorating rights on the taxpayers’ walls.

And, of course, teachers are already complaining:

IF YOU FORCE US TO TAKE DOWN OUR PRIDE FLAGS, WE’LL WALK AWAY FROM TEACHING!!!

— Sara Herman (@SaraHermanw0) September 1, 2026

Sara – and others like her – are free to pursue another career if displaying a Pride flag in her classroom is a professional priority. Teachers can still express their personal views. They just can’t expect taxpayers to provide the classroom wall space for them.