Law Commons^™

Massive Resistance--The Remix: Anti-Black Policymaking And The Poisoning Of U.S. Public Education, Janel George

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

What is occurring today in state legislatures and school boards around the country—under the guise of conservative attacks on Critical Race Theory—is merely a remix of the same song of white supremacy in public education. This nation has witnessed the impact of legislative campaigns designed to undermine educational opportunity for Black students before. This article applies a Critical Race Theory approach to analyze the role of law and policy in replicating racial inequality in education. This article asserts that policymakers seeking to preserve white supremacy in education have invoked three primary legislative tactics over the years: (1) denying; (2) defunding; …

Restoring Student Press Freedoms: Why Every State Needs A 'New Voices' Law, Clare R. Norins, Taran Harmon-Walker, Navroz Tharani

Scholarly Works

Scholastic journalists across America have long provided vital reporting, commentary, and fresh perspective on issues of public concern to their readers. Never has this been more true than in the current age of dwindling print media, where scholastic journalists at both the high school and post-secondary levels are stepping in to populate what would otherwise be news deserts. Yet the Supreme Court’s decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988), allows school officials to censor both the content and style of school-sponsored media without offending the First Amendment. This essay traces the history of student speech rights …

Massachusetts At The Forefront: How To Protect The Most Vulnerable Group In A Post-Legal Sports Betting World—Ncaa Student-Athletes, Dave Wilson

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Change is coming to sports gambling in the United States. No longer is it restricted to Nevada casinos or your “friendly” neighborhood sports bookie. The individual states have spoken, with state after state passing legislation authorizing legalized sports betting. It is clear that there is an appetite for legal sports gambling in this country. But how did we get here? And what will the ramifications be? This Note first analyzes the keystone sports gambling case, Murphy v. NCAA, and its impact on the destruction of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which was commonly viewed as a federal ban …

The Impact Of Edwards V. Aguillard On Science Education In Louisiana Public Schools, Abigail Mcdonough

Senior Honors Theses

The landmark Louisiana case Edwards v. Aguillard ushered in a new era of legislation in which certain ideas are discriminated against because of their religious basis. Due to the Court’s misinterpretation of evidence and employment of a faulty test for a secular purpose, the Court is responsible for disastrous and far-reaching implications. This thesis will examine how the 1987 Supreme Court case Aguillard shifted American science education away from the exploration of multiple competing theories of man’s origins in the classroom. Although America was founded on principles such as freedom of religion and thought which should be protected, the Aguillard …

Dog Whistles And Beachheads: The Trump Administration, Sexual Violence, And Student Discipline In Education, Nancy Chi Cantalupo

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

We’Ve Come A Long Way (Baby)! Or Have We? Evolving Intellectual Freedom Issues In The Us And Florida, L. Bryan Cooper, A.D. Beman-Cavallaro

Works of the FIU Libraries

This paper analyzes a shifting landscape of intellectual freedom (IF) in and outside Florida for children, adolescents, teens and adults. National ideals stand in tension with local and state developments, as new threats are visible in historical, legal, and technological context. Examples include doctrinal shifts, legislative bills, electronic surveillance and recent attempts to censor books, classroom texts, and reading lists.

Privacy rights for minors in Florida are increasingly unstable. New assertions of parental rights are part of a larger conservative animus. Proponents of IF can identify a lessening of ideals and standards that began after doctrinal fruition in the 1960s …

Keeping It Real: Why Congress Must Act To Restore Pell Grant Funding For Prisoners, Spearit

University of Massachusetts Law Review

In 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (VCCLEA), a provision of which revoked Pell Grant funding “to any individual who is incarcerated in any federal or state penal institution.” This essay highlights the counter-productive effects this particular provision has on penological goals. The essay suggests Congress acknowledge the failures of the ban on Pell Grant funding for prisoners, and restore such funding for all qualified prisoners.

Funding Programs That Work: Lessons From The Federal Home Visiting Program, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Philip G. Peters Jr.

Congress spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year on social programs. Many don’t work. Congress and the President have called for greater reliance on evidence-based programs. Thus far, however, only one major federal program conditions state access to formula-based federal funding on the use of evidence-based practices--the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. In this Article, I examine the extent to which this initial effort has succeeded, concluding that Congress has taken a promising first step, but that attainment of its objective will require more demanding proof standards than those contained in the current Home Visiting Program. …

Studying Is Dangerous? Possible Federal Remedies For Study Abroad Liability, Robert J. Aalberts, Chad G. Marzen, Darren A. Prum

Chad G. Marzen

Every year, thousands of U.S. students study abroad for academic credit. Study abroad programs have traditionally garnered strong congressional support, and proponents of the programs emphasize the educational, cultural, and diplomatic benefits from study abroad experiences.

Despite the many benefits of study abroad programs, risks are incurred overseas. In the past several years, a number of incidents have resulted in which students studying abroad have not only incurred physical harm, but in some instances have died while enrolled in a study abroad program. The current liability standards governing study abroad programs are murky. This article not only discusses the various …

Accidentally On Purpose: Intent In Disability Discrimination Law, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

American disability discrimination laws contain few intent requirements. Yet courts frequently demand showings of intent in disability discrimination lawsuits. Intent requirements arose almost by accident: through a false statutory analogy; by repetition of obsolete judicial language; and by doctrine developed to avoid a nonexistent conflict with another law. Demanding that section 504 and Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) claimants show intent imposes a burden not found in those statutes or their interpretive regulations. This Article provides reasons not to impose intent requirements for liability or monetary relief in section 504 and ADA cases concerning reasonable accommodations. It demonstrates that no …

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 …

Tactics, Strategies, & Battles – Oh My!: Perseverance Of The Perpetual Problem Pertaining To Preaching To Public School Pupils & Why It Persists, Casey S. Mckay

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Comment examines why a seemingly well-settled scientific issue, evolution through natural selection, continues to be the subject of so much legal controversy in public education. By exploiting misconceptions regarding the scientific method, religious special interest groups are able to persuade lawmakers to sneak religion into public school science classrooms across the country. This Comment considers the most recent incarnations of creationism and concludes by analyzing the impact the ongoing legal controversy has had on the American public’s understanding of science.

Securitization Of Student Loans: A Proposal To Reform Federal Accounting, Reduce Government Risk, And Introduce Market Mechanisms As Indicators Of Quality Education, Robert Proudfoot

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Article outlines looming budgetary and accounting issues with federal student loans and proposes securitization as an innovative mechanism to reform federal accounting, reduce federal balance sheet risk, and provide a new education quality indicator. The current federal loan program is unsustainable because it overestimates the repayment rates and underestimates the cost of certain loan programs. Securitization will reduce that federal risk. Additionally, by forcing academic institutions to bear some of the risk, securitization will create a neutral pricing mechanism outside the direct control of federal regulators to show whether academic institutions provide a quality education. While complicated, this proposal …

Social Networking And Student Safety: Balancing Student First Amendment Rights And Disciplining Threatening Speech, John L. Hughes Iii

University of Massachusetts Law Review

As the use of social media increases and becomes an integral part of nearly every student's life, problems arise when student expression on these sites turns into threats against the school or other students, implicating both student safety and the speaker's right to free speech. Facing a lack of Supreme Court precedent, school officials need guidance on whether and how to take action when a student makes threats on social network - how to prevent any danger at school while respecting the student's right to free speech. This note develops an approach that combines the Supreme Court's Watts "true threat" …

In Defense Of Idea Due Process, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Due Process hearing rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are under attack. A major professional group and several academic commentators charge that the hearings system advantages middle class parents, that it is expensive, that it is futile, and that it is unmanageable. Some critics would abandon individual rights to a hearing and review in favor of bureaucratic enforcement or administrative mechanisms that do not include the right to an individual hearing before a neutral decision maker. This Article defends the right to a due process hearing. It contends that some criticisms of hearing rights are simply erroneous, and …

Idea Class Actions After Wal-Mart V. Dukes, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Wal-Mart v. Dukes overturned the certification of a class of a million and a half female employees alleging sex discrimination in Wal-Mart’s salary and promotion decisions. The Supreme Court ruled that the case did not satisfy the requirement that a class have a common question of law or fact, and said that the remedy sought was not the type of relief available under the portion of the class action rule permitting mandatory class actions. Over the last two years, courts have struggled with how to apply the ruling, especially how to apply it beyond its immediate context of employment discrimination …

Overcoming Obstacles To Religious Exercise In K-12 Education, Lewis M. Wasserman

Lewis M. Wasserman

Overcoming Obstacles to Religious Exercise in K-12 Education Lewis M. Wasserman Abstract Judicial decisions rendered during the last half-century have overwhelmingly favored educational agencies over claims by parents for religious accommodations to public education requirements, no matter what constitutional or statutory rights were pressed at the tribunal, or when the conflict arose. These claim failures are especially striking in the wake of the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (“RFRAs”) passed by Congress in 1993 and, to date, by eighteen state legislatures thereafter, since the RFRAs were intended to (1) insulate religious adherents from injuries inflicted by the United States Supreme Court’s …

The Achievement Gap And Disparate Impact Discrimination In Washington Schools, Sarah Albertson

Seattle University Law Review

In today’s public schools, students designated as “white” and “Asian” consistently outperform students from other ethnic groups in test scores and graduation rates. These disparities, commonly called “the achievement gap,” are a symptom of greater issues, or “opportunity gaps.” Washington State has recently taken a further step to address the achievement gap and racial discrimination in schools. In 2010, the Washington legislature passed the Equal Education Opportunity Law (EEOL), HB 3026, in response to the recommendations in commissioned achievement gap studies. The EEOL authorizes the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to enforce this law through regulations. This …

Position Of Authority Statutes In Athletic Programs: A Proposed Roadmap For The Model Penal Code Revisions In Response To Jerry Sandusky, Casey Schwab

Casey Schwab

Jerry Sandusky, in an interview with Bob Costas on NBC’s “Rock Center,” admitted to “horsing around” while showering with young boys. He denied any sexual misconduct despite this admission. Since his admission of “horseplay” but denial of sexual abuse, the American public has been calling for a broad statutory rule barring adult coaches from being present while young athletes are in the shower. The majority of the current relevant literature examines the consequences that follow once coaches are already convicted of sexual abuse – not how their convictions were reached. The cases in which a coach is accused of sexual …

Do California’S Teacher Tenure Laws Violate California’S Constitutional Right To Education, Allen W. Hubsch

Allen W Hubsch

The accompanying note addresses an important and topical issue. In May 2012, Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General of the United States, and Theodore Boutrous, co-chair of the appellate practice at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court, entitled Vargara v. California, naming the State of California, the California Department of Education, the Los Angeles Unified School District and others as defendants.

The complaint alleges that California’s teacher tenure statutes are unconstitutional under the California constitution because such laws have the effect of preventing school districts from providing a quality education to school age …

The Constitutional Issues Surrounding The Science-Religion Conflict In Public Schools: The Anti-Evolution Controversy, Michael M. Greenburg

Pepperdine Law Review

Since the infamous Scopes trial the matter of the constitutional validity of the "anti-evolution" laws has plagued both legal scholars and school administrators. The courts have generally invalidated legislation which bans outright the teaching of evolution in public schools, but with the advent of the "balanced treatment" acts, a revival of this litigation has begun. The author examines the constitutional analysis utilized by the courts in dealing with the "anti-evolution" and "balanced treatment" acts and provides an historical perspective of the first amendment to question the Court's response to the issue.

"All Areas Of Suspected Disability", Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to assess children “in all areas of suspected disability.” It further provides that each child’s individualized education program (IEP) must contain measurable annual goals designed to “meet each of the child’s . . . educational needs that result from the child’s disability,” and a statement of special education and related services that will be provided for the child “to advance appropriately toward attaining annual goals.” Courts have strictly enforced these requirements in the last several years, remedying violations of IDEA when school districts fail to assess in all areas of …

The Politics Of Physical Education Reform, Ari Zyskind

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of the paper is to determine why today's youth are so physically inactive by examining the role and efforts of physical education, and the state and federal governments responsibility in supporting these programs, in fighting today's obesity epidemic by creating generations of healthy and physically active children. Research led to the determination that states have failed to maintain and improve physical education resulting in a physically inactive youth. Therefore, the nation should look to federal legislation to support state-led physical education, which this paper found to be constitutional if the enactments followed the provisions established in South Dakota …

Opportunistic Evolution: How State Legislation Is Seeking To Redefine Academic Freedom To Permit Intelligent Design In The Classroom, Crystal Canterbury

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why The No Child Left Behind Act Needs To Be Restructured To Accomplish Its Goals And How To Do It, Gershon M. Ratner

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The No Child Left Behind Act ("NCLB" or the "Act") 1 has created a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve American public education. NCLB has embraced vital goals for the new Information Age: academic proficiency for virtually all public school students and elimination of the severe racial/income "achievement gap." The Act provides four pillars on which states and localities might build a bridge to reach the goals: higher standards; periodic testing to measure the extent to which the standards are being met; disaggregating test results by student subgroup; and reporting to the public. The critical question is "how to …

Title Ix - Two For One: A Starter Kit Of The Law And A Snapshot Of Title Ix's Impact, Linda Jean Carpenter, R. Vivian Acosta

Cleveland State Law Review

This article first examines the creation of Title IX legislation. Then the article argues that " Title IX has had a massive impact on America's sport programs. But the debate continues, and perhaps will always continue, as long as there is inadequate funding to make the achievement of equity easy; as long as powerful members of one sex view exclusive access to sport as their chromosomal birth right; as long as administrators favor one sport over providing the benefits of athletics participation to a broader proportion of the student body; as long as the cake is not cut evenly."

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Adequate Access Or Equal Treatment: Looking Beyond The Idea To Section 504 In A Post-Schaffer Public School, Christopher J. Walker

Christopher J. Walker

In light of the Supreme Court's decision this Term in Schaffer v. Weast, this Note analyzes the current state of special education law and argues that parents, attorneys, and advocates should look beyond the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to Section 504 in the post-Schaffer public school. This Note shows how these two standards operate in the context of state special schools for the blind and deaf. A state-by-state survey of thirty states' special school admission policies and practices reveals the IDEA's limitations and Section 504's potentially complementary role.

Although other works have briefly compared the IDEA and Section …

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.