Law Commons^™

Thinking About The Constitution At The Cusp, Mark Tushnet

Akron Law Review

Marshall’s understanding that schools have an implicit curriculum might be a better guide to thinking about what we should teach about the Constitution in this century than any substantive points I might make. One controversial example may illustrate Marshall’s understanding: just as he asked what lesson would be taught by delaying desegregation, so we might ask, “What lesson will be taught about the nature of our constitutional community if we adopt a large-scale system of vouchers that parents can use to assist them in sending their children to non-public schools?” Such a system would demonstrate B and would teach our …

Rich Kids, Poor Kids, And The Single-Sex Education Debate, Rosemary Salomone

Akron Law Review

Over the past decade, the subject of publicly supported, single-sex education has generated considerable debate in legal and policy circles. Since 1996, much of that debate has centered around the Supreme Court’s decision in the Virginia Military Institute case and how that case intersects with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. In VMI, Justice Ginsburg, speaking for the Court, stated that gender classifications must have “an exceedingly persuasive justification” in order to pass muster under the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause.1 That decision has become a key factor in recent efforts by school districts to establish single-sex schools …

The Contemporary Significance Of Meyer And Pierce For Parental Rights Issues Involving Education, William G. Ross

Akron Law Review

Despite their ringing declarations about human rights, Meyer and Pierce were both formally decided largely on the basis of property rights -- the liberty of the schools to conduct a business, the right of private school teachers to follow their occupation, and the freedom of the schools and the parents to enter into contracts. Although the Court easily could have decided the cases on the bases of freedom of religion or freedom of speech, the Court had not yet incorporated any part of the Bill of Rights into state law, and it was not prepared to begin the process of …

Free At Last? Charter Schools And The "Deregulated" Curriculum, Molly O'Brien

Akron Law Review

This paper will explore the prospects for charter school reform to provide curricular innovation and will point out several provisions in the legal organization of charter schools that will limit the possibilities for major innovation or radical reform of the official curriculum. This paper will also take stock of the autocratic and bureaucratic nature of the current public school model and weigh the possibility for charter schools to transform schools into places that embody democratic and community values. Charter schooling presents an exciting opportunity for school reform that rejects the factory model of public schooling and establishes both an official …

Sorting And Reforming: High-Stakes Testing In The Public Schools, Rachel F. Moran

Akron Law Review

As with “Millionaire,” these practices are widely accepted, roundly applauded, but nevertheless quite controversial. In this article, I will first examine the historical origins of high-stakes testing. Next, I will describe the growing interest in these tests in elementary and secondary schools as well as the tensions that have resulted. Then, I will explore the most significant challenges to the use of high-stakes testing as a requirement for graduation or promotion to another grade. This article will close by contemplating the likely future of the movement for testing and accountability.

Preliminary Thoughts On The Virtues Of Passive Dialogue, Michael Heise

Akron Law Review

The judicial, legislative, and executive branches interact in many ways. These interactions fuel a constitutional dialogue that serves as a backdrop to myriad governmental activities, both large and small. Although this on-going dialogue takes numerous forms and its quality varies, its existence is one sign of a functioning democracy. The judiciary’s participation in the nation’s constitutional dialogue is necessary, desirable, and, as an empirical matter, inevitable. The judiciary’s participation raises important normative issues as well. This article analyzes two competing models that bear on the normative question: what form should the judiciary’s participation take?

Equal Protection Challenges To The Use Of Racial Classifications To Promote Integrated Public Elementary And Secondary Student Enrollments, Kevin Brown

Akron Law Review

This essay is entitled Equal Protection Challenges to the Use of Racial Classifications to Promote Integrated Public Elementary and Secondary Student Enrollments. I delivered this essay as a speech in Akron, Ohio, at a conference titled “Education and the Constitution: Shaping Each Other and the Next Century” in March of 2000. The topic of this essay is particularly relevant for a conference with this title because it addresses one of the most significant issues in race and public education since the Supreme Court started America on the path of desegregation. Discussion of this topic in Akron, Ohio, is also particularly …

Education And The Constitution: Shaping Each Other & The Next Century, Elizabeth Reilly

Akron Law Review

In evaluating patients’ potential legal remedies, this Comment explores 1) the emergence of managed care organizations in the United States; 2) the creation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and how it impacts patients’ claims against their MCOs; 3) the question of “quantity” versus “quality” in evaluating whether ERISA preemption exists; 4) three theories (direct liability, breach of fiduciary duty, and vicarious liability) used to hold MCOs liable for injuries resulting from malpractice or the wrongful denial of benefits; 5) state legislative attempts to circumvent ERISA’s inequitable preemption of claims; and 6) why, given ERISA’s failure …

The Akron Law School: The Early History Of The University Of Akron School Of Law: 1921-1959, Margaret E. Matejkovic, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Review

This short sketch is designed to tell the history of the school with special attention to those aspects which will preserve its rich history and help its faculty, students, and alumni understand its traditions and mission. What follows is a history of the school from its founding in 1921 until its merger with The University of Akron in 1959. An online inventory lists all the graduates during that time period along with as much biographical data as we were able to find. The vignettes in the materials below are based upon the individuals for whom we could find data. We …

Law Schools And The Legal Profession: A Way Forward, Peter A. Joy

Akron Law Review

This essay proceeds in four parts. Part II briefly examines the disengagement of law schools from the legal profession both in much of the scholarship produced and through courses required for graduation. Part III analyzes why some state bar regulators are imposing admission requirements in response to law schools failing to prepare students better for the practice of law. Part IV discusses the types of bar admission requirements being considered. Finally, in Part V, I argue that rather than being reactive and resistant to change, law schools should be forward looking and incorporate changes that will not only better prepare …

School Bullying Litigation: An Empirical Analysis Of The Case Law, Diane M. Holben, Perry A. Zirkel

Akron Law Review

This study will analyze the case law specific to bullying in the public school context during a recent twenty-year period. More specifically, its scope will include the frequency and the outcomes of the liability and “free and appropriate public education” (“FAPE”) claims on a longitudinal basis. Part I of the article provides the context in terms of (a) the definition of bullying, and (b) the literature concerning the rate and effects of bullying as well as the extent of anti-bullying policies and practices at the school district and state levels. Part II provides the methodological information, including the scope of …

Covering Up An Infection With A Bandage: A Call To Action To Address Flaws In Ohio's Anti-Hazing Legislation, Justin M. Burns

Akron Law Review

Hazing is not just a student and education problem – it is a society problem. There have been attempts to address the problem, such as educational programming, adopting anti-hazing policies in schools, and condemning hazing through legislatures. However, these attempts, including Ohio’s 1983 anti-hazing statute, only punish the hazing as an “act;” put differently, these approaches characterize hazing as an activity that someone does to someone. But after considering human development and the reality of how hazing has materialized in our communities, hazing is not something done do people, but why something is done to them.

For example, consider an …

Every Day Counts: Proposals To Reform The Idea's Due Process Structure, Elizabeth Shaver

Akron Law Faculty Publications

It is a core principle of special education legislation that the parents of children with disabilities can challenge the child’s educational programming through an administrative due process hearing. Yet, for years the special education due process structure has been criticized as inefficient, anti-collaborative, and prohibitively expensive. Those criticisms have given rise to widely varying proposals to reform special education due process, proposals that range from adding certain alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to a wholesale replacement of the due process structure. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of special education dispute resolution. The article first examines the lively debate among scholars …

Every Day Counts: Proposals To Reform The Idea's Due Process Structure, Elizabeth Shaver

Elizabeth Shaver

It is a core principle of special education legislation that the parents of children with disabilities can challenge the child’s educational programming through an administrative due process hearing. Yet, for years the special education due process structure has been criticized as inefficient, anti-collaborative, and prohibitively expensive. Those criticisms have given rise to widely varying proposals to reform special education due process, proposals that range from adding certain alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to a wholesale replacement of the due process structure.

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of special education dispute resolution. The article first examines the lively debate among scholars …

Should States Ban The Use Of Non-Positive Interventions In Special Education? Re-Examining Positive Behavior Supports Under The Idea, Elizabeth Shaver

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In the 1980s and 1990s, behavior analysts vigorously debated ethical concerns about the use of certain behavioral interventions to address severe behavior of disabled children. In 1997, while that debate was still ongoing, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was amended to require educators to consider the use of “positive behavioral interventions and supports,” among other strategies, to address problem behavior that impedes a disabled child’s learning. Since 1997, the “positive behavioral interventions and supports” framework has shifted focus, but IDEA’s language essentially has stayed the same. In addition, some states have enacted poorly-worded statutes or regulations in order …

Should States Ban The Use Of Non-Positive Interventions In Special Education? Re-Examining Positive Behavior Supports Under The Idea, Elizabeth Shaver

Elizabeth Shaver

In the 1980s and 1990s, behavior analysts vigorously debated ethical concerns about the use of certain behavioral interventions to address severe behavior of disabled children. In 1997, while that debate was still ongoing, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was amended to require educators to consider the use of “positive behavioral interventions and supports,” among other strategies, to address problem behavior that impedes a disabled child’s learning. Since 1997, the “positive behavioral interventions and supports” framework has shifted focus, but IDEA’s language essentially has stayed the same. In addition, some states have enacted poorly-worded statutes or regulations in order …

Random Vs. Suspicion-Based Drug Testing In The Public Schools -- A Surprising Civil Liberties Dilemma, Martin H. Belsky

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Tecumseh School District had a policy that all students who wished to participate in extracurricular activities that involved some sort of competition had to agree to drug testing before the competition and then randomly thereafter. ... Those selected for accusatory drug testing might be perceived to be wearing a "badge of shame" and be subject to the arbitrary whim of an administrator. ... Vernonia involved a rule requiring drug testing as a condition for participation in extracurricular competitive sports. ... In Earls, the Tecumseh School District adopted a "Student Activities Drug Testing Policy" that required all students who wished …

Random Vs. Suspicion-Based Drug Testing In The Public Schools -- A Surprising Civil Liberties Dilemma, Martin H. Belsky

Martin H. Belsky

The Tecumseh School District had a policy that all students who wished to participate in extracurricular activities that involved some sort of competition had to agree to drug testing before the competition and then randomly thereafter. ... Those selected for accusatory drug testing might be perceived to be wearing a "badge of shame" and be subject to the arbitrary whim of an administrator. ... Vernonia involved a rule requiring drug testing as a condition for participation in extracurricular competitive sports. ... In Earls, the Tecumseh School District adopted a "Student Activities Drug Testing Policy" that required all students who wished …