Law Commons^™

Sharing Stupid $H*T With Friends And Followers: The First Amendment Rights Of College Athletes To Use Social Media, Meg Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

This paper takes a closer look at the First Amendment rights of college athletes to access social media while simultaneously participating in intercollegiate athletics. The question posed is quite simple: can a coach or athletic department at a public university legally restrict a student-athlete's use of social media? If so, does the First Amendment provide any restraints on the type or length of restrictions that can be imposed? Thus far, neither question has been presented to a court for resolution. However, the answers are vital, as college coaches and athletic directors seek to regulate their athletes in a constitutional manner.

Beware: Teachers Who Blog, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A recent case from Pennsylvania, Munroe v. Central Bucks School District (2014), raises fresh questions about the free speech and expression rights of public school teachers as they use the Internet. In Munroe, when a board terminated a high school teacher’s employment for making controversial postings about her students and colleagues on her personal blog—postings that proved disruptive—a federal trial court rejected the educator’s claim that she was dismissed in retaliation for exercising her right to free speech.

Before reviewing the facts and judicial opinion in Munroe, it is worth noting that blogs (a term coined in the late 1990s …

Transportation Funding In Arkansas’ Schools, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In a report to the Arkansas Joint Senate and House Education Committee meeting in September 2014, Picus Odden & Associates recommended that the Legislature change the state’s transportation funding system. Currently, transportation funding is distributed from the state to districts on a per pupil basis as a part of the unrestricted foundation formula. In doing so, the system does not account for the variation in costs of transportation for districts across the state; therefore, Picus Odden & Associates recommended that the state’s transportation funding structure be changed. The purpose of this policy brief is to highlight transportation funding in Arkansas …

Do Away With Race-Based Annual Academic Data, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and former Nominated Member of Parliament Eugene Tan urged for the Ministry of Education to stop publishing race-based academic data for national examinations. This includes the Primary School Leaving Examination, and the GCE O- and A-Levels. He felt that at a time when the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others racial classification is less relevant, with more inter-racial and international marriages, we must do away with racial stereotypes or notions of cultural deficits, because they undermine the very students we seek to help.

Legal Issues Surrounding Christmas In Public Schools, Charles J. Russo, Ralph D. Mawdsley

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As the United States becomes increasingly religiously diverse, surprisingly relatively little litigation has occurred over the celebration of religious holy days and holidays in public schools. Although the Supreme Court has addressed Christmas displays on two occasions—in Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) and County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union (1989)—neither case directly concerned public schools.

The status of holiday celebrations in public schools is a key, if seasonal, issue in light of the importance of religion in the lives of many Americans, as educators seek to teach students to appreciate diversity in all of its manifestations, including religion.

National And State Research On Pre-Kindergarten, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Across the nation, over 1.3 million threeand four-year olds attend state funded pre-K programs in 40 states (and Washington D.C.).1 In Arkansas, over 25,000 three- and four-year olds are enrolled in state-funded programs. Since 2008, approximately $111 million a year of state funding has been spent on preKindergarten in Arkansas. 2 In the 2014 election season, the topic of pre-K and state funding for pre-K has been debated in a number of state races, including Arkansas. Therefore, the purpose of this policy brief is to describe pre-K in Arkansas and summarize the existing research examining the impact of pre-K.

Charter School Facilities Funding, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The equity and adequacy of facilities funding for charter schools (as well as traditional public schools (TPS)) is a topic of hot debate in Arkansas and across the country. Proponents of charters argue that charter schools are burdened due to a lack of facilities funding. Other argue that there are great needs in our TPS districts as well, and that these needs should be met first. This brief describes what facilities funding is currently available to charter schools in Arkansas and what other states are doing that we could possibly leverage here in the Natural State.

Alcohol And Substance Abuse In Higher Education: Suggestions For Student Affairs Professionals, Emma Charpentier, Andrew L. Cullen, Bryan Hamann, Samantha Mallory

Parameters of Law in Student Affairs and Higher Education (CNS 670)

No abstract provided.

Legal Implications Of Student-Based Relationships In Higher Education, Lisa Brun, Zachary Inman

Parameters of Law in Student Affairs and Higher Education (CNS 670)

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Schoolhouse Gates: The Unprecedented Expansion Of School Surveillance Authority Under Cyberbulling Laws, Emily Suski

Faculty Publications

For several years, states have grappled with the problem of cyberbullying and its sometimes devastating effects. Because cyberbullying often occurs between students, most states have understandably looked to schools to help address the problem. To that end, schools in forty-six states have the authority to intervene when students engage in cyberbullying. This solution seems all to the good unless a close examination of the cyberbullying laws and their implications is made. This Article explores some of the problematic implications of the cyberbullying laws. More specifically, it focuses on how the cyberbullying laws allow schools unprecedented surveillance authority over students. This …

Tinkering With Success: College Athletes, Social Media And The First Amendment, Meg Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

Good law does not always make good policy. This article seeks to provide a legal assessment, not a policy directive. The policy choices made by individual institutions and athletic departments should be guided by law, but absolutely left to institutional discretion. Many articles written on college student-athletes' social media usage attempt to urge policy directives clothed in constitutional analysis.

In this author's opinion, these articles have lost perspective-constitutional perspective. This article seeks primarily to provide a legal and constitutional assessment so that schools and their athletic departments will have ample information to then make their own policy choices.

Beyond The Schoolhouse Gates: The Unprecedented Expansion Of School Surveillance Authority Under Cyberbullying Laws, Emily F. Suski

Faculty Publications By Year

For several years, states have grappled with the problem of cyberbullying and its sometimes devastating effects. Because cyberbullying often occurs between students, most states have understandably looked to schools to help address the problem. To that end, schools in forty-six states have the authority to intervene when students engage in cyberbullying. This solution seems all to the good unless a close examination of the cyberbullying laws and their implications is made. This Article explores some of the problematic implications of the cyberbullying laws. More specifically, it focuses on how the cyberbullying laws allow schools unprecedented surveillance authority over students. This …

Next Generation Science Standards, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

This policy brief provides an overview of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), voluntary state science standards that are intended to improve the quality of science instruction in the U.S. The brief discusses the history of science standards, the development of the NGSS and its current status, arguments for and against the standards, and the status of the NGSS in Arkansas.

Brief Of Education Law And Educational Measurement Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellants, Cook V. Stewart, Scott R. Bauries, Brian J. Sutherland, Cheryl B. Legare

Law Faculty Advocacy

This appeal, to be decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, challenges two egregious misuses of "value-added modeling," a controversial teacher evaluation method that attempts to isolate the affect of one teacher on the learning gains of that teacher's students, as derived from annual standardized test scores. With the approval of the State Appellees, the School District Appellees used the test scores of students who took the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in reading and math to evaluate the teaching performance of teachers who either did not teach these students at all, or did not teach …

Race-Based Preferences And The Supreme Court, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

So-called race-conscious remedies ensure that all citizens are considered fairly and equally for employment and education opportunities. The legal status of race-conscious remedies continues to present challenges for education leaders, policymakers, and lawmakers.

Schools Of Innovation, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Act 601, passed in April 2013, allows for schools to apply to become “schools of innovation.” Accepted schools receive flexibility from certain regulations in order to facilitate the use of innovative approaches to teaching and learning. In this policy brief, we discuss the history of Act 601, similar models in other states and their results, the application and approval process, the 2014-15 schools of innovation, and the role of the Office of Innovation for Education in supporting schools of innovation.

2013-14 Arkansas Test Results, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In late July, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) released the 2013- 14 test score results. The following brief highlights the results of these tests, compares achievement scores over time, and provides a glimpse of regional achievement results for the following exams:  Benchmark Exam (Grades 3-8)  End-of-Course Exam (Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, and Grade 11 Literacy).  Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Grades 1-9)

The Intersection Of Family Law And Education Law, Debra Chopp

Articles

It is well-established that parents have a fundamental liberty interest in directing the education of their children. As family law practitioners know, however, parents do not always agree with each other on matters pertaining to their child's education. Where education issues arise in family law cases, it is important for members of the family law bar to have familiarity with education laws so that they may properly advise their clients. This article will identify and briefly discuss common intersections of family law and education law.

Negligence, Student Supervision, And School Business Officials, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

With a new school year on the horizon, the topic of adequate student supervision is once again on educators’ minds. Whether students are attending classes, playing in school yards, or participating in extracurricular sports or other activities, educators are at risk of liability for injuries that children sustain if officials fail to meet their duty to protect youngsters from unreasonable risks of harm.

Accordingly, awareness of the principles relating to the legal duty to supervise students adequately and the defenses to negligence can go a long way toward shielding school districts from liability. As evidenced by the representative cases cited …

Disparate Impact, School Closures, And Parental Choice, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Journal Articles

We live in an era of parental choice. Today, forty-two states and the District of Columbia authorize charter schools, and twenty states and the District of Columbia permit students to use public funds to attend a private school. During the 2012-2013 school year, nearly 2 million children attended charter schools, and nearly 250,000 children received publicly funded scholarship to attend a private school. The expanding menu of publicly funded educational options is one (but by no means the only) factor contributing to the current, intensely controversial, waves of urban public school closures. In school-closure debates, proponents of traditional public schools …

A Common Law Constitutionalism For The Right To Education, Scott R. Bauries

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article makes two claims, one descriptive and the other normative. The descriptive claim is that individual rights to education have not been realized under state constitutions because the currently dominant structure of education reform litigation prevents such realization. In state constitutional education clause claims, both pleadings and adjudication generally focus on the equality or adequacy of the system as a whole, rather than on any particular student's educational resources or attainment. The Article traces the roots of the currently dominant systemic approach, and finds these roots in federal institutional reform litigation. This systemic focus leads to a systemic, rather …

Religious Freedom In A Brave New World: How Leaders In Faith-Based Schools Can Follow Their Beliefs In Hiring, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A confluence of litigation at the Supreme Court raises important, yet potentially conflicting, questions about the freedom of employers in religious schools¹ to hire teachers and staff members. On the one hand, in Hosanna-Tabor v. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission,² a unanimous Court reasoned that the ministerial exception granted religious leaders alone the authority to choose who is qualified to teach in their schools. On the other hand, the Court’s rulings on same sex-unions seem to be ushering in a brave new world. For example, in United States v. Windsor,³ the Court struck down the Defense …

Career Readiness: Arkansas And Beyond, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

This policy brief explores how career and technical education is being approached in Arkansas and elsewhere. New career and college readiness initiatives have been undertaken in a variety of settings, including the academy model that is highlighted in this brief. Additionally, the brief will explore career readiness from an international and national perspective and discuss the rationale for why career readiness matters for a considerable number of students in the public schools and workforce development programs across Arkansas.

Early College High School, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In the past decade, there has been a growing trend of offering opportunities to high school students to earn college credit. These opportunities have come in many forms: Advanced Placement (AP) courses, International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, dual enrollment, and concurrent enrollment. Early college high schools have developed in the wake of this trend. This policy brief examines Early College High Schools, small schools designed to enable students to earn both a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree or up to two years of college credit, tuition free.

New Tech Network In Arkansas, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The New Tech Network high school model is a component of Governor Beebe’s 2011 STEM Works Initiative and currently operating in several Arkansas high schools. This policy brief examines the New Tech model, including both its successes and challenges, and spotlights two Arkansas high schools that are using the model.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Food Allergy Research & Education, & Council Of Parent Attorneys And Advocates In Support Of Plaintiff-Appellants And Urging Reversal, T.F., A Minor By His Parents And D.F. And T.S.F., On Their Own Behalf V. Fox Chapel Area School District, Marc Charmatz, Caroline Jackson

Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Idea And Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Primer, Charles J. Russo, Allan G. Osborne Jr.

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures are the cornerstone of the provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that mandate the timely resolution of disagreements between parents and school officials.

ADR procedures are in the form of mediation and resolution sessions that are held before culminating in due process hearings. The sessions are designed to be speedier, less costly, and less adversarial than litigation. Subject to infrequent exceptions, disagreements can be subject to judicial review only after parents and education officials have exhausted the administrative remedies under the IDEA. The provisions establish time frames that parties must meet before …

East Initiative, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) is an educational program developed through the vision of one Arkansas educator in 1996. Since then, EAST programs have been implemented throughout Arkansas and have even expanded into other states. This policy brief describes the EAST model and provides spotlights on schools that are using the model in exemplary ways.

Meet The Candidates: 2014 Arkansas Gubernatorial Race, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Earlier this spring, we at the OEP were fortunate to sit down with three of the candidates vying to become the next Governor of Arkansas. The candidates were generous enough to give us their time and allow us to post the full interviews on YouTube. If you prefer an abridged version, this policy brief summarizes the candidates’ views on a range of important education policy issues. We hope that these interviews will be informative for your vote on May 20th in the party primaries.

The Emotionally Intelligent Law Professor: A Lesson From The Breakfast Club, Heidi K. Brown

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.