Law Commons^™

Tenure Wars: The Litigation Continues, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Teacher tenure is a controversial topic that continues to generate litigation. Parents and advocates of educational reform have filed claims alleging, in part, that school officials violate the rights of students who are not achieving academically largely because of the ineffective instruction the students receive from teachers.

Typically, these suits also claim that conditions in districts where students perform poorly on academic measures are exacerbated by the protection that state tenure laws—in conjunction with union efforts—afford ineffective teachers, thereby making it difficult to dismiss the teachers for incompetence.

In North Carolina Association of Educators v. State (2016), a North Carolina …

Sexual Harassment In Schools, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Eliminating sexual harassment in schools continues to be a national concern. In fact, the Supreme Court has resolved three major cases on this topic, and lower courts continue to resolve a steady stream of disputes. The litigation has moved beyond teacher–student and peer–peer claims to include disputes over harassment because of actual or perceived sexual orientation.

Meeting The Needs Of Student Parents, Charles J. Russo, Rabiah Gul

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

In addition to the struggles teenage parents and their children face, in 2010, teen childbearing also costs taxpayers between $9.4 and $28 billion a year for such expenditures as public assistance payments, lost tax revenue, and public healthcare, foster care, and schooling, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (United States Department of Health and Human Services 2016). In light of the budgeting and social costs of teenage pregnancies and parenting, this is an issue about which educational leaders should be aware.