Law Commons^™

Nclb Waivers, Misty Newcomb, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

No Child Left Behind, or the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, is long overdue for reauthorization. Speculation concerning when and how this controversial act would be reauthorized has occurred throughout the Obama administration. In a somewhat surprising move last week, President Obama unilaterally created rules for NCLB waivers. This policy brief provides a brief background, followed by a discussion on the new NCLB flexibility and how these changes could affect schools in Arkansas.

An Analysis Of Disability-Related Provisions In The 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (Heoa): What Universities And Policy Makers Should Know, Alan Kurtz

Education

The purpose of this October 2011 policy brief is to provide state agencies, postsecondary institutions, and policy makers with an overview of changes in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) affecting the access to education of postsecondary students with disabilities and the way teacher education programs at Institutions of Higher Learning (IHEs) prepare general and special educators to teach students with disabilities. Specifically, this analysis reviews disability-related terminology new to this revision of the HEOA, access to instructional materials for students with print disabilities, changes in access to financial aid for students with intellectual disabilities, model demonstration projects both …

Raising The Kindergarten Entry Age, Misty Newcomb, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In recent years, the standards in Arkansas for entry into kindergarten underwent changes that can be difficult to understand. Across the nation, states have increased the minimum age of entry into public schools, and Arkansas is no exception. Recently, a policymaker in our state asked the OEP to look into the research surrounding the question of raising the kindergarten entry age. This policy brief discusses the new requirements as well as the impact of these requirements on families and children in the short and long term by looking at recent changes in Arkansas law and studies concerning the effect of …

When Districts Are Taken Over By The State, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Two types of state takeovers have been in the news this summer. The news extensively covered the state takeover of Helena-West Helena School District and Pulaski County Special School District due to fiscal issues. At their August meeting, State Board of Education members discussed amending the Academic Distress Rules in a manner that would more easily enable state takeovers on the basis of academic distress. This policy brief discusses the various classifications that might lead to a state takeover and the subsequent implications of such classifications. According to Arkansas law, namely The Omnibus Quality of Education Act of 2003, schools …

2011 Arkansas Benchmark Test Results: District By District Scores, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

One day after the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) released the results from the spring 2011 Arkansas Benchmark exams, the OEP received a call from a local constituent asking how districts in Northwest Arkansas compared to the rest of the state. Surprisingly, this type of question - often asked by educators, policymakers, researchers, parents, and concerned citizens - is not that easy to answer by simply glancing at the ADE-provided data. 1 Therefore, we put together a little policy brief to make the data more clearly understood.

Holding Schools Accountable For Their Sex-Ed Curricula, Rena M. Lindevaldsen

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines the legal and policy implications that arise when a school district decides to instruct students on issues concerning same-sex attractions. As more states afford legal recognition to same-sex relationships and adopt non-discrimination codes that include sexual orientation, schools are faced with the decision of what, when, and how to teach children about same-sex attractions. Providing instruction on this divisive issue is fraught with conflict as views and beliefs on the topic are deeply-held, diverse, and often politically charged. In disputes concerning other sensitive topics, courts long have afforded schools broad discretion to implement curriculum without interference from …

Holding To A Moral Compass Against The Pull Of Profits, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Assistant Professor Eugene Tan writes that as Singapore society becomes more complex, our law schools cannot just produce good legal technicians but are challenged to produce lawyers who are innovators and can utilize the law creatively to produce effective and efficient outcomes, and solutions infused with social justice and fairness. Today, the first batch of SMU law students comprising 106 LLB and 17 Juris Doctor degree students graduates.

Truth, Justice, And The Libertarian Way(S), Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

More than twenty years ago, I was commissioned to write an article – my very first scholarly article – on “the ethics of insider trading” (this was hot on the heels of the Ivan Boesky insider-trading scandal of the mid-1980s).1 After tracing philosophical debates concerning the morality of exchanges based on unequal information from Cicero and Aquinas through Henry Manne and Frank Easterbrook,2 I had to decide what I could responsibly say in a scholarly work as a matter of substantive moral theory about the practice of insider trading – and derivatively what it would be appropriate to say normatively …

Coordinating Loan Repayment Assistance Programs With New Federal Legislation, Philip G. Schrag, Charles Pruett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For decades, law school administrators, faculty members, students and graduates have worried about the problem of the ever-increasing cost of attendance at the nation’s law schools, and the rapidly rising average debt of graduating law students. The problem was particularly acute for students who desired careers in public service, because starting salaries in the government and non-profit sectors failed to keep pace with the increase in educational debt of law school graduates. In response, many law schools created loan repayment assistance programs (LRAPs), through which they subsidized loan repayment for some or all of their graduates who undertook public service …

Burying Our Heads In The Sand: Lack Of Knowledge, Knowledge Avoidance And The Persistent Problem Of Campus Peer Sexual Violence, Nancy Chi Cantalupo

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article discusses why two laws that seek to prevent and end sexual violence between students on college campuses, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX") and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ("Clery Act"), are failing to fulfill that goal and how these legal regimes can be improved to reach this goal. It explicates how Title IX and the Clery Act ignore or exacerbate a series of "information problems" that create incentives for schools to "bury their heads in the sand" with regard to campus peer sexual violence. These …

Terms Matter: Reflections On The Wyoming Debate Over The Teachers’ “Union” And Teacher “Tenure”, Michael C. Duff

All Faculty Scholarship

Invariably, in Wyoming, as in other states, the educational debate swirls around two topics: the extent to which school teachers’ unions influence educational policy, and the related, but distinct, question of whether teachers are unreasonably entrenched in their jobs through systems of “tenure.” These questions in turn are closely intertwined with the broader national debate over public employee unionism. In Wyoming, however, the broader debate is not at issue, a fact that will be revealed in this article through close scrutiny of the terms “union” and “tenure.”

Act 35, New School Performance Ratings, And School Choice, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Act 35 was a product of the Lakeview v Huckabee case and the related Extraordinary Legislative Session. The law § 6-15-2101 of the Arkansas code required the establishment of three school ratings: a rating of the school’s current academic performance (or status), a rating of the school’s academic improvement (see the OEP policy brief on the new improvement rating) 1 , and a rating based on the school’s fiscal practices. The first set of improvement scores were reported based on the standardized tests administered in spring of 2007 and 2008. The first ratings based on current academic performance are to …

The Case For Extended School Time In Arkansas, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

There is growing discussion over the topic of extended learning opportunities throughout the state. For example, this past fall at the OEP conference in November, Arkansas Associctaion of Educational Administrators Director Richard Abernathy stated that additional instructional time may be needed in order to fulfill all the curricular requirements for schools. Citing the need for additional enrichment opportunities, a bill is making its way through the Arkansas Legislature to provide funding for after school and summer school programs. Additionally, and potentially of more consequence, is a bill sponsored by Senator David Johnson (D) of Little Rock to expand learning time …

Big Changes In How Students Are Tested, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

For the past decade, school accountability has relied on tests for which the essential format has remained unchanged. Educators are familiar with the yearly testing routine: schools are given curriculum frameworks, teachers use the frameworks to guide instruction, students take one big test at year’s end which relies heavily upon multiple-choice bubble items, and then school leaders wait anxiously to find out whether enough of their students scored at or above proficiency to meet state standards. All this will change with the adoption of Common Core standards. Testing and accountability aren’t going away. Instead, they are developing and expanding in …

The Value Of Value-Added Measures, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The concept of value-added measures of teacher or school effectiveness is prompting a great deal of discussion in K-12 Education policy circles. This debate reached a boiling point last year when the Los Angeles Times published a database of the value-added scores for all teachers in the nation's second largest school district. Proponents argue value-added measures provide important information on school and teacher effectiveness. Opponents argue value-added measures are imprecise instruments which measure student background instead of teacher or school quality. The purpose of this policy brief is to provide the reader with a general understanding of the concept of …

Quality Counts 2011, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On January 11, Education Week released its 15 th annual Quality Counts report. Since 1997, Education Week has been releasing yearly report cards for each state and the nation as a whole. These report cards attempt to measure educational progress and success in several areas as well as assign an overall letter grade to each state. Some of the grades assigned in the report cards measure the strength of states’ policies, while others measure educational inputs (school funding, job markets) or outputs (K-12 achievement)

Reviewing Joan Delfattore's Knowledge In The Making, Suzanne Corriell

Law Faculty Publications

A book review of Joan DelFattore's Knowledge in the Making.

Empowering Special Education Clients Through Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Lessons Learned For Current Clients And Future Professionals, Patricia E. Roberts, Kelly Whalon

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Online, Distance Legal Education As An Agent Of Social Change, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

New York Law School (NYLS) created its online, distance learning mental disability law program in an effort to provide education in an area of the law that remains hidden in most law school curricula. Since 2000, it has offered its mental disability law courses in an online, distance learning format to its own students, to law students from other US-based law schools, to mental health professionals, to students in all the allied mental health professions and in the fields of criminology and criminal justice, and to activists and advocates (including members of the psychiatric survivor movement). It has offered the …

The Fifth Freedom: The Constitutional Duty To Provide Public Education, Areto A. Imoukuede

Journal Publications

This Article explains why there is a fundamental duty for the government to provide public education under the U.S. Constitution. Numerous scholars and public officials have written on the need to overrule San Antonio v. Rodriguez or adopt alternative approaches to recognizing a right to public education either judicially or by way of constitutional amendment. This Article identifies a consistent and systemic reluctance by the Court to meaningfully enforce positive rights, which are the duties that the government owes to the people. In doing so, it explores the consistent recognition throughout American history that education is a fundamental duty of …

The "Asian" Category In Mcas Achievement Gap Tracking: Time For A Change, Philip Lee

Journal Articles

Data gathered on Asian American students in public school by the Massachusetts Department of Education are aggregated into one general “Asian” category, which may skew the results, both perpetuating an enduring myth and masking any true gaps that may exist for certain Asian American subgroups. As explored in this article, achievement gap tracking for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is an apt example.

In this article, I posit that this aggregation of many subgroups into one general “Asian” category perpetuates the myth of Asian Americans as a model minority, while downplaying any achievement gap that exists for certain Asian American …

State Constitutional Design And Education Reform: Process Specification In Louisiana, Scott R. Bauries

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

As to education, the Louisiana Constitution contains the familiar general mandate for the establishment of a public school system, now ubiquitous among state constitutions. But unlike the founding documents of any of the other states, Louisiana's constitution also provides for a very specific process-based allocation of the responsibilities for determining appropriations levels in education from year to year.

It is well-known that state constitutions often treat numerous—sometimes trivial—subjects, or contain provisions that seem hyper-specific and statutory, rather than foundational and constitutional, and state constitutions have been roundly criticized (and sometimes defended) for these features. In this Article, I argue that …

Guarding The Schoolhouse Gate: Protecting The Educational Rights Of Children In Foster Care, Amy Reichbach, Marlies Spanjaard

Faculty Publications

Children in foster care encounter numerous obstacles to educational success. Among these is exclusion from school, the significance of which cannot be overstated. Multiple studies have revealed both anecdotal and statistical links between suspension and failure to graduate. Recognizing that children have protected interests in their education, in 1975 the United States Supreme Court established that students facing even short suspensions from school are entitled to due process. Children in foster care, however, are rarely in a position to ensure that their due process rights, including the right not to be excluded from school arbitrarily, are protected adequately. Given the …

Students' Fourth Amendment Rights In Schools: Strip Searches, Drug Tests, And More, Emily Gold Waldman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

At the end of June 2009, the Supreme Court decided Safford Unified School District No. 1 v. Redding, a case involving the strip search of a thirteen-year-old girl at an Arizona middle school. Thus, the Court has now decided four cases regarding public school students' Fourth Amendment rights while at school and the time is ripe to take stock of this jurisprudence as a whole. The following discussion provides such an overview. As an initial matter, it is useful to divide the Court's four Fourth Amendment cases into two categories: (1) cases involving suspicion-based searches of individual students, such as …

Recognizing The Public Schools' Authority To Discipline Students' Off-Campus Cyberbullying Of Classmates, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

The American Medical Association, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified bullying in the public elementary and secondary schools as a "public health problem". This article explains the schools' comprehensive authority, consistent with the First Amendment, to impose discipline on cyberbullies, by suspension or expulsion if necessary. Ever since Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the Supreme Court's First Amendment decisions have granted the schools authority to discipline student speech that causes, or reasonably threatens, (1) "substantial disruption of or material interference with school …

The Fifth Freedom: The Constitutional Duty To Provide Public Education, Areto Imoukhuede

Faculty Scholarship

“The fifth freedom is freedom from ignorance. It means that every[one], everywhere, should be free to develop his [or her] talents to their full potential – unhampered by arbitrary barriers of race or birth or income.” Lyndon B. Johnson This article argues that education is a fundamental human right that the U.S. Supreme Court has failed to recognize because of the Court’s bias towards negative, rather than positive rights. Viewed from the limited perspective of rights as liberties, the concern with declaring a fundamental right to education is that education legislation would be strictly scrutinized, thus causing the undesired result …

Race And Socioeconomic Diversity In American Legal Education: A Response To Richard Sander, Danielle R. Holley-Walker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fate Of The Detroit Public Schools: Governance, Finance And Competition, Peter J. Hammer

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Burying Our Heads In The Sand: Lack Of Knowledge, Knowledge Avoidance, And The Persistent Problem Of Campus Peer Sexual Violence, Nancy Chi Cantalupo

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Imaginary Threats To Government's Expressive Interests, Helen Norton

Publications

The Supreme Court’s emerging government speech doctrine permits the government to refuse to allow other parties to join, and thus change or distort, its own message. In this way, the government speech doctrine appropriately protects government’s legitimate – and valuable – expressive interests by providing a defense to free speech clause claims by private speakers who seek to compel the government to deliver their own views. Too often, however, governmental bodies are asserting their own expressive interests to claim – and some courts are permitting them to exercise – the power to punish private parties’ speech that does not threaten …