Law Commons^™

Breaking The Fourth's Wall: The Implications Of Remote Education For Students' Fourth Amendment Rights, Sallie Hatfield

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced both public K-12 and higher education institutions to transition to exclusively provide remote education, students’ homes and personal lives were exposed to the government like never before. Zoom classes and remote proctoring were suddenly the norm. Students and their families scrambled to create appropriate offices and classroom spaces in their homes, and many awkward and invasive scenarios soon followed. While many may have been harmlessly captured on camera, like classes that witness a student’s family eating lunch in the background or a dog on the couch, even these harmless instances have insidious implications for the …

Can't Really Teach: Crt Bans Impose Upon Teachers' First Amendment Pedagogical Rights, Mary L. Krebs

Vanderbilt Law Review

The jurisprudence governing K-12 teachers’ speech protection has been a convoluted hodgepodge of caselaw since the 1960s when the Supreme Court established that teachers retain at least some First Amendment protection as public educators. Now, as new so-called Critical Race Theory bans prohibit an array of hot button topics in the classroom, K-12 teachers must either preemptively censor themselves or risk running afoul of these vague bans with indeterminate legal protection. This Note proposes an elucidation of K-12 teachers’ free speech rights via a two-part test to assess the reasonability of instructional speech. Rather than analogizing K-12 teacher speech to …

Promoting Patent Practitioner Diversity: Expanding Non-Jd Pathways And Removing Barriers, Christopher M. Turoski

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The patent field suffers from a reciprocal problem: the cost of becoming a Registered Patent Attorney is high, and the diversity of the patent bar is low. The high cost of law school tuition (over $50,000 per year at some schools) prices out individuals from less privileged backgrounds, thereby decreasing the number of diverse candidates who could become Registered Patent Attorneys. The relatively low number of students with science, technology, or engineering (STE) degrees also restricts the number of diverse candidates who could become Registered Patent Attorneys. These factors contribute to a lack of diversity in the patent bar, reflecting …

Reshaping Ability Grouping Through Big Data, Yoni H. Carmel, Tammy H. Ben-Shahar

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article examines whether incorporating data mining technologies in education can promote equality. Following many other spheres in life, big data technologies that include creating, collecting, and analyzing vast amounts of data about individuals are increasingly being used in schools. This process has already elicited widespread interest among scholars, parents, and the public at large. However, this attention has largely focused on aspects of student privacy and data protection and has overlooked the profound effects data mining may have on educational equality. This Article analyzes the effects of data mining on education equality by focusing on one educational practice--ability grouping--that …

Sector Agnosticism And The Coming Transformation Of Education Law, Nicole S. Garnett

Vanderbilt Law Review

Over the past two decades, the landscape of elementary and secondary education in the United States has shifted dramatically, due to the emergence and expansion of privately provided, but publicly funded, schooling options (including both charter schools and private school choice devices like vouchers, tax credits, and educational savings accounts). This transformation in the delivery of K12 education is the result of a confluence of factors-discussed in detail below-that increasingly lead education reformers to support efforts to increase the number of high quality schools serving disadvantaged students across all three educational sectors, instead of focusing exclusively on reforming urban public …

Federalizing Education By Waiver?, Derek W. Black

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the fall of 2011, the U.S. Secretary of Education told states he would use his statutory power to waive violations of the No Child Left Behind Act ("NCLB'), but only on the condition that they adopt his new education policies- policies that had already failed to move forward in Congress. States had no choice but to agree because eighty percent of their schools were faced with serious statutory sanctions. As a result, the Secretary was able to unilaterally dictate core education policies for the nation's public schools. For the first time, the content of school curriculum and the means …

Bringing It All Back Home: Establishing A Coherent Constitutional Framework For The Re-Regulation Of Homeschooling, Timothy B. Waddell

Vanderbilt Law Review

Bobby and Esther Riddle, the Supreme Court of West Virginia conceded, "did an excellent job" teaching their children, Jill and Tim- possibly better than the public schools could do."' Like many fundamentalist parents, the Riddles believed the Bible required them personally to teach their children, protect them from heresy and worldly influence, and resist government intrusions that could imperil their eternal salvation. Moreover, they believed they had constitutional rights to do so. Jill and Tim Riddle studied the same subjects as public schoolchildren, but their studies were interwoven with religious lessons based upon their parents' idiosyncratic view of Christian doctrine. …

The Bologna Process And Its Impact In Europe: It's So Much More Than Degree Changes, Laurel S. Terry

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Bologna Process is a massive, multi-year project designed to create the "European Higher Education Area" by the year 2010. It began ten years ago, when four European Union(EU) countries signed a relatively vague declaration. It has grown to include forty-six countries, including all of the EU Member States and nineteen non-EU countries. The Bologna Process countries have agreed on ten "action lines" for restructuring European higher education. These action lines are nothing short of revolutionary--they address everything from a three-cycle degree system (e.g., bachelor-master's-doctorate degrees), European-wide quality assurance efforts, mobility of higher education students and staff, "recognition" in one …

Resolving The Dissonance Of Rodriguez And The Right To Education, Angela A. Holland

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Education exists as a fundamental right recognized by countries worldwide. Overwhelming support for the right to education is reflected in international human rights instruments, including the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Notwithstanding a near global consensus on this issue, the United States has refused to recognize a federal right to education since the 1973 Supreme Court decision San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. The ill-effects of Rodriguez linger today; glaring disparities continue to mar the educational prospects of women, minorities, and poor children in the United States. …

Access This: Why Institutions Of Higher Education Must Provide Access To The Internet To Students With Disabilities, Nina Golden

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

No one questions whether the ADA applies to institutions of higher education. Title II applies to public colleges and universities, while Title III applies to private ones. With some exceptions, colleges and universities must make their programs and services accessible by providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. What is significantly less clear, and thus the topic of dispute among courts and commentators, is whether the ADA requires colleges and universities to provide access to the Internet to students with disabilities. Much of the dispute revolves around the meaning of the term "place of public accommodation." Some courts have required …

On The Occasion Of His Retirement: A Tribute To Professor Harold G. Maier, Editorial Board

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Editorial Board of the Journal is pleased to publish the following tributes to Professor Maier on the occasion of his retirement.

A Need For Heightened Scrutiny: Aligning The Ncaa Transfer Rule With Its Rationales, Jonathan Jenkins

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note will explore the traditional rationales offered by the NCAA in implementing the Transfer Rule and suggests that these rationales are not served by the current Rule. Part I frames the environment in which the Transfer Rule exists by tracing the history of the NCAA. Part II explores the traditional rationales offered for justifying the Transfer Rule. In McHale v. Cornell University, the NCAA suggested that the purposes of the Transfer Rule are "(1) to prevent transfers solely for athletic reasons, (2) to avoid exploitation of student-athletes, and (3) to allow transfer students time to adjust to their new …

Are We Playing By The Rules? A Debate Over The Need For Ncaa Regulation Reform, Katherine Todd, Chris Guthrie, Professor Covington, Linda Bensel-Meyers, Gene Marsh, Mike Slive Commissioner, Len Elmore

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

We welcome all of you here today. The moderator for this morning's panel is Professor Robert Covington. Professor Covington is a senior member of the Vanderbilt faculty, having joined the law school immediately after his graduation from Vanderbilt Law in 1961. Professor Covington did his undergraduate work at Yale. He has established himself as a wide-ranging scholar and teacher, with a recognized expertise in labor law. Professor Covington has also taught sports law classes at the Law School. In recognition of his distinguished service to Vanderbilt, in 1992 he received the university's Thomas Jefferson Award. Professor Covington, I'll turn it …

School Funding Litigation: Who's Winning The War?, John Dayton, Anne Dupre

Vanderbilt Law Review

Much is being made this year in education law circles and elsewhere about the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.' The Brown decision has certainly left an indelible mark on schools and other institutions in the United States. But last year the thirtieth anniversary of another major Supreme Court opinion passed largely without comment, despite the fact that it may be the most significant decision regarding public schools since Brown. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, concluded that education was not a fundamental right and that disparities in school funding …

Single-Sex Classes In Public Secondary Schools: Maximizing The Value Of A Public Education For The Nation's Students, Ashley E. Johnson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Throughout the United States, school districts are struggling to educate their students in the face of drug problems, violence, and deteriorated home situations that permeate the lives of large numbers of today's teenagers. Many parents likewise face a daunting battle in helping their children attain an education that will enable those children to move beyond what their parents achieved financially. Additionally, recent economic downturns mean states have even less money to spend on education, forcing the quality of education in some already inadequate schools to fall further. Meanwhile, studies show that American children have fallen behind many of their foreign …

Not As Easy As Black And White: The Implications Of The University Of Rio De Janeiro's Quota-Based Admissions Policy On Affirmative Action Law In Brazil, Ricardo Rochetti

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note specifically addresses the propriety of affirmative action pertaining to admissions to institutions of higher education. The focus will be on Uerj's quota system because, of all of Brazil's neophyte quota systems, it has received the most publicity and attracted the most scrutiny.

Part II of this Note will analyze Uerj's program and highlight the reasons for its ineffectiveness and the arguments that both proponents and opponents of the program have advanced. Part III will introduce the issues that the Supreme Federal Tribunal, Brazil's highest court, will encounter in deciding the challenge that the National Confederation of Teaching Establishments …

Resuscitating The National Resident Matching Program: Improving Medical Resident Placement Through Binding Dual Matching, Melinda Creasman

Vanderbilt Law Review

People outside the medical profession have likely heard of the long hours that doctors keep, but are probably unaware of the low salaries and nonnegotiable contracts that medical school graduates must accept upon entering a residency program. In fact, young doctors are among the few professionals who do not find postgraduate employment in the open job market. Currently, fourth-year medical students seeking postgraduate residency training participate in a process that matches them to a single residency program. This match dictates where the new doctor will spend the next three to seven years of her career. Upon receiving a match, the …

Silence Of The Lambs: Are States Attempting To Establish Religion In Public Schools?, Linda D.W. Lam

Vanderbilt Law Review

The proper role of religion in public schools has been a topic of bitter debate for many years. While one group of individuals believes that there should be a complete separation of church and state, another group believes that religion should have an integral place in public education. Although both groups have looked to the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the First Amendment to support their respective positions, each has been unable to find clear, definitive support regarding the appropriate relationship between religion and public schools, as there was no public education system at that time. One major issue that …

Darwin, Design, And Disestablishment: Teaching The Evolution Controversy In Public Schools, Jay D. Wexler

Vanderbilt Law Review

The controversy over teaching evolution in public schools is once again hot news. Ever since the Supreme Court decided in 1987 that Louisiana could not constitutionally require teachers to give equal time to teaching creation science and evolution, critics of evolution have adopted a variety of new strategies to change the way in which public schools present the subject to their students. These strategies have included teaching evolution as a "theory" rather than as a fact, disclaiming the truth of evolutionary theory, teaching arguments against evolution, teaching the allegedly nontheistic theory of intelligent design instead of creationism, removing evolution from …

A Search For The Best Idea: Balancing The Conflicting Provisions Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Joshua A. Wolfe

Vanderbilt Law Review

One issue that is consistently at the forefront of political debate in America is the educational system. The debate over education involves funding, accountability, and curriculum issues, among others. One education issue that does not receive as much attention as some of the more politically charged issues is special education.

The goal of the American public school system is to educate all children, but how should that goal be implemented with regard to learning-disabled children? How does the educational system meet the individualized needs of disabled students while ensuring that these students are not isolated from the rest of the …

Transforming Education: The Lesson From Argentina, Anne P. Dupre

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article traces education reforms in Argentina from the colonial period to the present. Specifically, the Article focuses on La Ley Federal de Educacion, passed in 1993, which sought to reform primary and secondary education throughout Argentina by promoting educational equity through a just distribution of educational services and opportunity.

The Article begins with a description of the current Argentine federal republic and the relationship of the federal government and the provinces. Next, the Article describes the development of the Argentine education system.

It continues by explaining the backdrop of the adoption of Ley Federal. The Author describes the act's …

Beyond The Blackboard: Regulating Distance Learning In Higher Education, Leslie T. Thornton

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

It is not so surprising that traditional institutions of higher education have been relatively slower than businesses, for example, to embrace the potential of the new technologies, and have lost students to those institutions and businesses which have been more willing to change. But technology is playing an enormous role in the shape, size, and direction of education, and it's not waiting for the leaders of traditional institutions--or anyone else, for that matter--to join the club.

This Article examines the scope and impact of that role, specifically as it has developed through a new trend toward online "distance education" or …

Returning To The True Goal Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: Self-Sufficiency, Robert C. Hannon

Vanderbilt Law Review

This country has long recognized the necessity of an education in order to function productively in society. As suggested by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, "some degree of education is necessary to prepare citizens to participate effectively and intelligently in our open political system." More recently, the Supreme Court recognized the importance of education in Brown v. Board of foreclose the means by which that group might raise the level of es- teem in which it is held by the majority .... Illiteracy is an enduring disability."

Today this need to educate remains just as pressing. Our country …

Comparing United States And New Zealand Legal Education: Are U.S. Law Schools Too Good?, Gregory S. Crespi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article offers a thoughtful comparison of the legal educational systems of the United States and New Zealand. The author highlights the significant differences between these two legal educational systems by contrasting their admissions policies, clinical programs, "law-and-economics" electives, and staffing of required courses. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that although U.S. law schools are clearly "better," such superiority may have been achieved at too high of a cost, in terms of both the substantial resources now devoted to legal education which could otherwise be applied to alternative uses and the problematic effects of the stratified legal educational …

L'Affaire Des Foulards--Discrimination, Or The Price Of A Secular Public Education System?, Cynthia D. Baines

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note examines the recent controversy over France's ban against "ostentatious" religious symbols in public schools. The only ostentatious symbol targeted by the French government, however, has been the head scarves worn by Muslim schoolgirls. The author explores the roots of the current ban by examining France's tradition of assimilation of immigrants and its constitutionally mandated secular public education system. The author also compares France's interests in prohibiting head scarves with the Muslim students' interests in practicing their religion. Finally, the author concludes that the French policy of banning head scarves from school is not only impractical, but likely a …

Leaving Equality Behind: New Directions In School Finance Reform, Peter Enrich

Vanderbilt Law Review

Public education, in most states, is funded in substantial part from local property taxes. As a result, resources vary widely from one school system to another, and schools in poorer communities are often severely underfunded. Over the past quarter century, many of these state financing systems have been challenged as unconstitutional, initially under the federal Equal Protection Clause and subsequently, after the Supreme Court's adverse decision in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, under equal protection clauses and education clauses included in state constitutions. These state constitutional provisions can support challenges that attack school financing systems either for the …

Out Of Focus: The Misapplication Of Traditional Equitable Principles In The Nontraditional Arena Of School Desegregation, Joseph H. Bates

Vanderbilt Law Review

Karl Marx wrote that all historical facts occur twice--the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.' In the desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas, the genres were reversed. In 1957 the opportunistic Governor Orvall Faubus reduced to farce the Little Rock Board of Education's initial attempt to comply with the United States Supreme Court's decree in Brown v. Board of Education when he ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prohibit nine black students from entering Little Rock High School. In 1983, after more than two decades of continuous court supervision and intermittent litigation, the tragedy began when the Little …

The Lingering Legacy Of "In Loco Parentis": An Historical Survey And Proposal For Reform, Brian Jackson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The changing legal relationship between students and their college or university reflects the evolution of higher education in this country. During the Colonial period and the early years of the Republic, higher education was conducted mainly through small, church-affiliated colleges. In most cases, the founders and faculties of early American schools imitated the collegiate systems of Oxford and Cambridge. Stu- dents and their teachers aspired to withdraw from the world of everyday affairs to live and work in an environment that mirrored the families students left behind. Faculties were concerned not only with intellectual advancement but also with the development …

Academic Freedom And The University Title Vii Suit After University Of Pennsylvania V. Eeoc And Brown V. Trustees Of Boston University, Clisby L.H. Barrow

Vanderbilt Law Review

Tenure' is the crowning laurel of academia. The process of reviewing a candidate for tenure at the university level generally begins with an evaluation and recommendation by a group of the candidate's peers. Candidates who are denied tenure may seek judicial review of the decision and discovery of peer review materials. Not surprisingly, universities encourage courts to defer to tenure decisions and to deny plaintiffs access to confidential peer review documents.Traditionally, in fact, courts have given great deference to university tenure decisions. Judicial deference has pervaded every phase of review from discovery to trial and remedy. As deference to university …

Education And The Court: The Supreme Court's Educational Ideology, William B. Senhauser

Vanderbilt Law Review

The need for a definition of the functions and goals of public education is a pressing problem in our society. American society is characterized by increasing alienation, weakening family ties, and waning church influence. The result is that education will play a greater role as one of the remaining institutions to help reach societal consensus and ensure the continued vitality of American democracy. Increasing controversy and litigation over students' and parents' rights in the educational process demonstrate widespread concern with the role of public education.' As the complexities of modern society increase and the public begins to believe American cultural …