Education Law Commons^™

Fair Dealing On Trial, Lisa Di Valentino

Lisa Di Valentino

Persistent Monkey On The Back Of The American Public Education System: A Study Of The Continued Debate Over The Teaching Of Creationism And Evolution, Gabriel Acri

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Education Funding In Maine In Light Of Zelman And Locke: Too Much Play In The Joints?, Sarah M. Lavigne

Maine Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has struggled with the countervailing directives of the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause for decades. One area in which this battle has been particularly contentious is the issue of public funding of religious schools. On one hand, opponents argue that such funding is an impermissible co-mingling of church and state, thereby violating the Establishment Clause. Meanwhile, proponents of public funding of religious schools argue that, to withhold funding from religious schools would place a burden on those wishing to send their children to religious schools, thereby impermissibly preventing individuals from practicing their faith ...

From No Child Left Behind To Every Student Succeeds: Back To A Future For Education Federalism, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

When passed in 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act represented the federal government’s most dramatic foray into the elementary and secondary public school policymaking terrain. While critics emphasized the Act’s overreliance on standardized testing and its reduced school district and state autonomy, proponents lauded the Act’s goal to close the achievement gap between middle- and upper-middle-class students and students historically ill served by their schools. Whatever structural changes the No Child Left Behind Act achieved, however, were largely undone in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act, which repositioned significant federal education policy control in state ...

Another Season Of Record-Breaking International Moot Court Achievements (Smu), Siyuan Chen, Eunice Chua

Research Collection School Of Law

It was written in previous articles in this publication that both Singapore law schools participating in international moot court competitions have been putting up impressive results in the last few years. As the latest moot season draws to a close, we are happy to report that 2016/17 has been another good season for Singapore mooters. NUS and SMU reached a total of 12 international championship finals between them during this period, and ordered chronologically.

“Doing Well In Spite Of The School”: How African American Students Perceive Achievement, Engagement, And School Climate In The Aftermath Of California’S Local Control Funding Formula, Angela Clark Louque, Wil Greer, April Clay, Ayanna Balogun

Wisdom in Education

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore urban African American students’ school experiences based on the aftermath of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), focusing on achievement, engagement, and school climate. Survey data and focus groups of 62 participants were analyzed using chi-square, multiple regression, and an iterative process. Findings suggest that students desire information regarding honors courses, stronger teacher/student relationships, and fairer discipline treatment. Effective strategies and practices are recommended including the LCFF’s revisions to have specific goals for African American students.

The Failure Of Education Federalism, Kristi L. Bowman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Since the Great Recession of 2007–09, states have devoted even less money to public education and state courts have become even more hostile to structural reform litigation that has sought to challenge education funding and quality. Yet the current model of education federalism (dual federalism) leaves these matters largely to the states. As a result, state-level legislative inaction, executive acquiescence, and judicial abdication can combine to create a situation in which the quality of traditional public schools declines sharply. This is the case in Michigan, which is an unusually important state not only because the dynamics that are emerging ...

Why Kindergarten Is Too Late: The Need For Early Childhood Remedies In School Finance Litigation, Kevin Woodson

Arkansas Law Review

In 2006, Jim Ryan, then a law professor, now dean of Harvard University’s School of Education, published A Constitutional Right to Preschool, a seminal article that argued that courts should require states to fund public preschools as a means of abiding by their constitutional obligations to provide all children adequate educational opportunities. Though very few courts have ever imposed such a requirement, and all but one of these rulings have been eliminated on appeal, Ryan noted the political popularity of universal preschool and a growing trend among states to provide free pre-kindergarten as grounds for optimism that courts might ...

Education Litigation, Kevin T. Baine

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Fisher V. University Of Texas At Austin: Navigating The Narrows Between Grutter And Parents Involved, Kimberly A. Pacelli

Maine Law Review

Universities’ use of race as a factor in their admissions decisions has been a divisive issue both in the legal system and in political discourse. Opponents of affirmative action have challenged racial preferences in public university admissions under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Individuals who find themselves denied a coveted seat in a university class and suspect that racial preferences are to blame will often challenge their rejection as a denial of their state’s “equal protection of the laws.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently considered whether the University of Texas ...

The Law Of Collegiality: Revisiting Niagara University V. Nlrb, Rev. Carl L. Pieber

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Hate Speech In The Schools: A Potential Change In Direction, Kevin W. Saunders

Maine Law Review

The law regarding free expression and students in the public schools has long been somewhat confused. An early Supreme Court vindication of student speech rights has eroded over the years. Yet, it is perhaps unclear how great the erosion has been and how much of the original recognition still stands. This has left the lower courts rather unwilling to protect school students from hate speech, at least in cases where there has not been a history of such speech leading to disruption or even violence. Only recently has there been some sign of change in that regard, with a few ...

"To Hell In A Handbasket": Teachers, Free Speech, And Matters Of Public Concern In The Social Media World, Jessica O. Laurin

Indiana Law Journal

This Note argues that courts should narrow the scope of examined speech and place little weight on the amount of media attention that the speech received. Although courts sometimes reject First Amendment protection on the Pickering balancing test instead of the public concern issue, the public concern requirement is a threshold issue that plays a critical role in successful First Amendment claims. Accordingly, courts need to revisit the public concern doctrine to ensure that its analysis is sound and yields the correct outcome.

Part I provides background concerning retaliation claims, criticism of the public concern requirement, and special issues that ...

Saving Title Ix: Designing More Equitable And Efficient Investigation Procedures, Emma Ellman-Golan

Michigan Law Review

In 2011, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance on Title IX compliance. This guidance has resulted in the creation of investigative and adjudicatory tribunals at colleges and universities receiving federal funds to hear claims of sexual assault, harassment, and violence. OCR’s enforcement efforts are a laudable response to an epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses, but they have faced criticism from administrators, law professors, and potential members of the Trump Administration. This Note suggests ways to alter current Title IX enforcement mechanisms to placate critics and to maintain OCR enforcement as a ...

Equal Liberty In Proportion, Joshua E. Weishart

William & Mary Law Review

As federal law continues to devolve more education policy making to states, state courts will remain a primary forum for settling education rights. State fora do not inspire confidence, however, because their doctrine is so uncertain. A majority of state supreme courts do not specify a level of scrutiny and at times seem to be improvising judicial review. The resulting decisions can exhibit a troubling lack of foresight. Most notably, while federal doctrine increasingly reveals the interrelation of liberty and equality claims, state courts have failed to capitalize on that point—even though their decisions were among the first to ...

Litigation In Search Of Educational Opportunity: An Analysis Of Abbeville County School District Et Al. V. The State Of South Carolina Et Al., Jennifer Michelle Hein

Dissertations

Like many southern states, South Carolina has a history permeated by issues related to race, equity, and educational opportunity. As early as the 1949 South Carolina court case, Briggs v. Elliott, South Carolina has had to address issues of equity and educational opportunity among its disenfranchised and marginalized citizenry. More than 60 years later, in Abbeville County School District et al. v. the State of South Carolina et al., sectors of rural South Carolina, predominantly black and poverty laden, would unite and engage in a legal battle with the State over equity in public education and by judicial mandate, be ...

The Pedagogical Needs Of Children And Adults Living In The Calais Jungle Refugee Camp: Existential Issues And Perspectives Of Volunteer Teachers And Workers, Theresa C. Bodon, Nancy K. Votteler

FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education

This study aimed at examining the pedagogical needs and challenges of children and young adults living in a refugee camp in France known as the Calais Jungle. Through the researchers’ observations and interviews with volunteer teachers and workers at the camp, insights into their perspectives shed light on the pedagogical needs of refugees. Also, utilizing Paulo Freire’s philosophical stance, this study provides a contextual approach to the educational practices and ideological viewpoints represented within unregulated refugee camp settings.

Are Law Degrees As Valuable To Minorities?, Frank Mcintyre, Michael Simkovic

University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series

We estimate the increase in earnings from a law degree relative to a bachelor’s degree for graduates of different race/ethnic groups. Law earnings premiums are higher for whites than for minorities (excluding individuals raised outside the U.S.). The median annual law earnings premium is approximately $41,000 for whites, $34,000 for Asians, $33,000 for blacks, and $28,000 for Hispanics. Law earnings premiums for whites, blacks and Hispanics have trended upward and appear to be gradually converging. Approximately 90 percent of law graduates are white compared to approximately 82 percent of bachelor’s degree holders.

From Student-Athletes To Employee-Athletes: Why A "Pay For Play" Model Of College Sports Would Not Necessarily Make Educational Scholarships Taxable, Marc Edelman

Boston College Law Review

In recent years, numerous commentators have called for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) to relax its rules prohibiting athlete pay. This movement to allow athletes to share in the revenues of college sports arises from the belief that college athletes sacrifice too much time, personal autonomy, and physical health to justify their lack of pay. It further criticizes the NCAA’s “no pay” rules for keeping the revenues derived from college sports “in the hands of a select few administrators, athletic directors, and coaches.” Nevertheless, opponents of “pay for play” contend that several problems will emerge from lifting the ...

Esea Title I Litigation - Update, Charles H. Wilson, Esq., Williams & Connolly, Washington, D.C.

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.