Law Commons^™

Tax Benefits And Fairness In K–12 Education, Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the tax law’s subsidies for inequality and segregation in primary and secondary education, analyzing the federal charitable deduction and education savings plans, and state tax credits for education. It argues that the tax system diverts funds from traditional public education into private education, fostering economic, racial, religious, and political separation. The tax law also operates to increase resource inequality within public education by subsidizing schools that affluent children attend. In a novel analysis, the Article contends that the jurisprudence around the charitable deduction for education—though longstanding—is legally incoherent, and argues that no deduction should ever be allowed …

Special Education Disparities Are Social Determinants Of Health: A Role For Medical-Legal Partnerships, Karen Bonuck, Leah Hill

Faculty Scholarship

Problem: Education is a key social determinant of health. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) purportedly affords children the right to a free and appropriate education. Yet, racial, ethnic, and economic disparities exist regarding appropriate identification and classification of children with needs for special education, and access to services.

Purpose: This article first highlights gaps and disparities in special educational services, and their structural linkage to poverty. The second section describe the first years of a medical–legal collaboration between a University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Fordham University, focused on special education.

Key Points: The …

Faculty Insights On Educational Diversity, Meera E. Deo

Fordham Law Review

Twice in the past two years, the U.S. Supreme Court has approved educational diversity as a compelling state interest that justifies the use of race in higher education admissions decisions. Nevertheless, it remains on somewhat shaky ground. Over the past decade, the Court has emphasized that its acceptance of diversity stems from the expectation that a diverse student body will enhance the classroom environment, with students drawing on their diverse backgrounds during classroom conversations that ultimately bring the law to life. Yet, the Court provides no support for its assumption that admitting and enrolling diverse students actually result in these …

Hats Off To Claire Flom: Education And The Importance Of Being Involved , Judith S. Kaye

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This transcript of the Claire Flom lecture covers primarily two themes—the importance of early intervention, and the importance of people getting involved with the public school system and in their children - and other children's education The lecture applies these concepts first to children with special education needs and then to adolescents, kids at the brink of adulthood. The article argues that early intervening early is key to both populations and that neglected learning difficulties only worsen with the passage of time.

Footing The Bill For A Sound Basic Education In New York City: The Implementation Of Campaign For Fiscal Equity V. State, Bonnie A. Scherer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

On March 16, 2005, in what appeared to be a victory for the children of New York City, the Court of Appeals of New York, applying the Education Article, upheld a lower court decision and recommendation, by a panel of judicially appointed Special Referees, holding that the New York State school funding system failed to provide New York City children with a “sound basic education.” The Court of Appeals mandated that the State Legislature phase in $5.6 billion annually, as well as an additional $9.2 billion in a capital fund to reform the City public schools. The opinion, however, failed …

Legislating Accountability: Standards, Sanctions, And School District Reform , Aaron J. Saiger

Faculty Scholarship

The “New Accountability” movement in American education purports to catalyze improvement in American education by setting clear state standards for academic performance, measuring performance against those standards, and disseminating information about results. This Article argues that the potential of state accountability programs lies not in their imposition of standards but in their imposition of a sanction - the disestablishment of school districts, which entails unseating the local superintendent and school board and replacing them with state officials or their designees - that is extremely painful for the targeted district but is also painful for states to impose. The first Part …

Edison Schools And The Privatization Of K-12 Public Education: A Legal And Policy Analysis, Lewis D. Solomon

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines the private takeover of the management of K-12 publicly funded schools. It focuses on one particular educational management organization, Edison Schools. This Article examines the situation in Philadelphia's public schools and the efforts of a local school reform commission to revitalize K-12 education. It goes on to look into the personalities of those who started and today run Edison Schools, analyze Edison Schools financial position, and discuss the structured educational approach Edison Schools uses in it schools. This Article addresses the policy considerations behind the efforts to privatize public schools. It concludes that while Edison Schools does …

From Equity To Adequacy: The Legal Battle For Increased State Funding Of Poor School Districts In New York, Brian J. Nickerson, Gernard M. Deenihan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article evaluates the influence of federal courts' school finance cases on the New York school finance groups' decision to litigate in the New York courts. It then analyzes the importance of other states' legal precedents in school finance cases as a factor influencing interest groups in New York to challenge the state's public education funding formulas. This Article discusses the progression of public elementary and secondary school funding formula litigation in New York, focusing on the legal arguments raised by various interest group-plaintiffs and tracing the development of those arguments to school finance cases in other states. The conclusion …

Examining How The Inclusion Of Disabled Students Into The General Classroom May Affect Non-Disabled Classmates, Marissa L. Antoinette

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Comment discusses the effectiveness of the inclusion of disabled students in general classrooms, focusing particularly on the effects on non-disabled classmates. Part I of this Comment outlines the history of inclusion as established through federal legislation, as well as its gradual implementation in New York City. Part II examines the issues concerning inclusion, looking at the consequences inappropriate inclusion of disabled students may have on the non-disabled ("general") student. Finally, Part III proposes a solution, suggesting that a school district give a disabled student a "three strikes" policy regarding disruptions, after which she may be removed, permanently or temporarily, …

Unequal Educational Opportunities For Gifted Students: Robbing Peter To Pay Paul?, Charles J. Russo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Brown ushered in an era that has led to admirable, yet arguably incomplete, gains in equal educational opportunities for all children, most notably minorities, females, and students with disabilities. However, despite the progress that has been made in the struggle for educational equality, many exceptional students are not being fully served. Aside from commission reports and rhetoric, little has been done at either the federal or state level to offer appropriate programming for gifted and talented children's educational needs. It is questionable whether educational leaders and policy makers have taken sufficient steps to meet the educational needs of gifted children. …

Diversity Efforts In Independent Schools , Michael Brosnan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In recent years, independent schools have begun committing themselves to diversity. Schools are recruiting more students and teachers of color and have transformed their curriculum to better address race, gender, class religion, and sexual orientation. Schools must start marketing themselves to a broad spectrum of families, teachers, and administrators, and have done so in order to prepare students for the adult world to come. Schools need to hire and retain teachers of color. To achieve this, some overlapping efforts by schools include: creating the need to hire teachers of color with the school's mission, clarifying the school's climate and culture, …

Confronting Same-Sex, Student-To-Student Sexual Harassment: Recommendations For Educators And Policy Makers, Thomas A. Mayes

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Student-on-student sexual harassment has been the subject of significant scholarly commentary and numerous court battles. In light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, which held that in certain cases students have a cause of action under Title IX against schools for peer sexual harassment, many schools have been advised to consider responses to and ways to prevent student-on-student sexual harassment. When considering corrective and preventative approaches to peer sexual harassment in the schools, educators and policy makers should strongly consider addressing same-sex harassment. Prior to its decision in Davis, a unanimous …

The Education Justice: The Honorable Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr., Victoria J. Dodd

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Honorable Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. is “the education Justice” of the United States. During his tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court, from 1971 to 1987, Justice Powell authored at least twenty major opinions in education law, in addition to numerous significant concurrences and dissents. Just a sampling of Justice Powell's majority opinions on education could form the bulk of an education law textbook recognizable by any American law student. This Article will explore some of Justice Powell's major Supreme Court rulings in education law. It will also consider how these rulings may have related to aspects of Justice Powell's …

The Children's School: Lessons For Inclusion, Leadership, And School Success, Beth Lief

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In recent years education has evolved into the country's number one public concern. Presidential, gubernatorial, mayoral, and legislative candidates all claim to care about educating our children. Successful schools should be used by educators and policy-makers as models. In order to reproduce the success of these schools, the reasons for their success must be identified. A school's achievement data gives important indications of why it succeeds. There are also innumerable studies and reports listing factors enabling school success. The Children's School in Brooklyn, New York is a school worthy of study. The leadership is superb; teachers know their students and …