Education Commons^™

Financing Education: An Overview Of Public School Funding, Charles J. Russo, William E. Thro, Frank M. Batz

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Financial resources for public education are increasingly scarce, and district leaders at all levels continue to struggle to maintain adequate levels of financial resources for their students and programs using complex funding formulas unique to their own jurisdictions. To help educators and education stakeholders better understand the dimensions of paying for public education, we begin with an overview of the historical development of school finance litigation that has shaped the funding mechanisms in most jurisdictions. The next section highlights developments in four representative jurisdictions from the funding formulas currently available in ASBO International’s Funding Formula Library. The library, available on …

Reporting And Protecting Students From Child Abuse, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A tragic reality of American life is that a significant number of children are abused and neglected, even killed, by the hands of their parents and caregivers. In fact, 2013 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 678,932 incidents of child abuse and neglect were reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) nationally, with about 27% of those cases involving youngsters under the age of three (CDC 2015).

Moreover, the CDC noted that the CPS data suggest that their reports may underestimate the occurrences of child abuse and neglect. That same report estimates that about 1,520 children …

The Importance Of Understanding School Law, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

In an increasingly litigious society wherein parents and their children file a broad spectrum of claims against school systems, it is essential that education leaders have at a minimum a basic understanding of school law.

Before 1954, the Supreme Court addressed only a handful of cases involving K–12 schools and higher education. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), perhaps the Supreme Court’s most important education-related decision, ushered in an era of equal educational opportunities and key legislations, such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, now the No Child Left Behind Act (2002); Title IX of …

Selecting Instructional Materials, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A recent dispute from Columbus, Ohio, that made some national headlines dramatically illustrates what can happen to teachers who fail to preview materials and consequently show inappropriate films or use other media unsuited for student instruction.

The outcome of that case was more dramatic and unusual than in similar cases. Even so, this incident demonstrates that educators in K–12 schools can lose their jobs if they fail to use their discretion and comply with board policies in selecting appropriate materials and subjects for their classes and previewing materials before using them in instructional settings.

Transportation For Students With Disabilities, Charles J. Russo, Allan G. Osborne Jr.

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Transportation and other related services for students with disabilities are essential, and the costs associated with their delivery can weigh heavily on district budgets and the minds of school business officials.

School districts typically offer transportation to students with disabilities in district-owned and -operated vehicles, in vehicles owned and operated by private service providers, or via public transportation; occasionally, districts may enter into contracts with parents to transport their children to school. When students are unable to access the standard modes of transportation, school officials must make special transportation arrangements. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulations, …

An Update On Student Equal Access, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

In Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990), the Supreme Court upheld the Equal Access Act (EAA), a federal law enacted to permit student-organized groups to meet during noninstructional time.

The EAA traces its origins to Widmar v. Vincent (1981). At issue in Widmar was a policy whereby officials at a state university in Missouri made campus facilities generally available to student groups for their activities. Treating religion as a form of free speech, the Supreme Court ruled that insofar as officials allowed more than 100 student groups to use campus facilities, they created a forum for …

A Primer On Federal Statutes Affecting Education, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Before the Supreme Court’s monumental decision banning racial segregation in schooling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the federal government had little direct involvement in national education policy. Subsequently, the federal government has assumed a major role in setting national education policy.

The federal government’s first post- Brown major legislative enactment, in 1958, was the adoption of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). Enacted largely in response to the Soviet Union’s launching of Sputnik 1, the NDEA, made federal funds available to education institutions to focus on areas considered critical to national defense, such as mathematics, science, and foreign …

"Friending" Students On Social Media, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The use of social media, particularly services such as Facebook and Twitter, has grown exponentially in recent years. Yet to date, relatively little litigation has arisen around the issue of teachers and other educators engaging in questionable or inappropriate use of social media when communicating with students. Even so, parental complaints do arise when teachers share inappropriate communications with students through social media. Consequently, as social networking continues to increase, school business officials and other education leaders should devise policies to help deal with this growing trend.

Given the widespread use of social media, this column examines emerging legal questions …

Special-Education Law In Mexico And The United States, Charles J. Russo, Ricardo Lozano

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The challenges of meeting the requirements of students with special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other laws are a particularly timely topic, as large numbers of native Spanish-speaking students move into the United States.

Against that backdrop, this article reviews the laws for special education in Mexico and the United States. The focus on the laws in Mexico stems from the fact that many students cross the border daily to attend public schools in the United States, and because Mexico has many laws in place dealing with special education. We offer school district leaders a comparative …

The Law Of Public Education, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This textbook-casebook incorporates recent developments in education law into its conceptual framework by offering updated analysis of major topics in education law. With new material in all of its sixteen chapters, the book includes significant updates on church-state relations, employee rights, and student rights. There are now two chapters on student rights. The author also includes Supreme Court opinions on strip searches of students, teacher bargaining and free speech rights.

Has Teacher Tenure’S Time Passed?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A recent trial court order (Vergara v. State of California 2014), which Governor Jerry Brown has already appealed (Nagourney 2014), has sent shock waves through the ranks of teachers and their unions because it threatens what is perhaps educators’ most cherished prize: tenure.

In Vergara, the court invalidated five statutes addressing tenure, procedural safeguards relating to teacher dismissal, and seniority as violating the equal protection clause in the California constitution. The court ruled that the challenged laws “impose a real and appreciable impact on students’ fundamental right to equality of education and that they impose a disproportionate burden on poor …

Global Interest In Student Behavior: An Examination Of International Best Practices, Charles J. Russo, Izak Oosthuizen, Charl C. Wolhuter

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A cornerstone for effective teaching and learning is vested in the quality of the way in which students focus on the content of their lessons. The chapters in this book, then, offer cross-national perspectives on best practices when dealing with the challenge of student misconduct. The chapter authors, all distinguished academics and/ or jurists, have contributed their reviews of the state of the law and practice in their nations. As readers peruse the chapters, they will recognize that the way in which educators address student discipline varies around the world.

The first book of its kind, this volume consists of …