Education Law Commons^™

Reinvigorating Educational Malpractice Claims: A Representational Focus, John G. Culhane

Washington Law Review

For the past twenty tears, courts have faced a wide array of claims alleging misconduct by schools and their officials. These claims have involved diverse injuries, including: negligence in permitting functional illiterates to pass through the school system; negligent misdiagnosis of learning disabilities; and failure to deliver a promised package of educational skills and services. The judiciary has almost uniformly refused to allow recovery, in tort or otherwise, for such injuries. Some courts have conceded that, on the pleadings, a good case might be made out. Plaintiffs have nonetheless been turned away because of courts' related concerns with untrammeled litigation …