Education Law Commons^™

Sniff Dogs In Schools: Do The Noses Know?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As drugs and other contraband made their way into schools starting in the 1960s, education leaders turned to drug-sniffing dogs, which typically work in conjunction with law enforcement officials, to detect the presence of contraband in learning environments. In fact, sniff dogs—or their noses—are a highly effective, reliable, and unobtrusive means of discovering potentially dangerous contraband, such as drugs, alcohol, and even gunpowder from firearms. Accordingly, the vast majority of courts have upheld the use of sniff dogs in schools when challenged under the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The use of drug-sniffing dogs has come to …

2012-13 Arkansas Test Results, Michael L. Crouch, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In early August, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) released the 2012-2013 test score results. The following brief will highlight the results of these tests, compare achievement scores over time, and provide a glimpse of regional achievement results for the following exams:  Benchmark Exam (Grades 3-8)  End-of-Course Exam (Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, and Grade 11 Literacy).  Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Grades 1-9)

Attending School Matters: Policies To Eliminate Chronic Absenteeism, Charles J. Russo, Carolyn Talbert-Johnson

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Chronic absenteeism is among the most pervasive challenges facing public education in the United States as 1 in 10 students misses a month or more of school annually. Further, approximately 7% of fourth and eighth graders miss at least a week of school per month, whereas an estimated 5.5% to 20% of students are absent every day in some urban schools where absentee rates reach as high as 30% (Balfanz and Byrnes 2012).

As education leaders and policy makers debate the merits of new intervention strategies under the No Child Left Behind Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to …

Affirmative Action And Academic Freedom: Why The Supreme Court Should Continue Deferring To Faculty Judgments About The Value Of Educational Diversity, Steve Sanders

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Has Time Expired For Zero Tolerance Policies?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Zero-tolerance policies call for the consistent application of consequences for student offenses involving violence, bullying, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and weapons in school or at school-sponsored events. As educators struggled to eliminate student violence during the last 25 years, states adopted zero-tolerance statutes to address the rise of juvenile delinquency and the possession of weapons and drugs in schools.

Insofar as debates over zero-tolerance policies rage as violence, bullying, drugs, tobacco, and weapons in schools continue to be a major concern for educators, the remainder of this column is divided into three substantive sections. The first section briefly reviews arguments in …

2013 Legislative Review, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The 89th General Assembly in Arkansas convened on Monday January 14th and would file 2,640 pieces of legislation over the next 100 days. Of this legislation, there were 145 House Bills, 4 House Resolutions, and 97 Senate Bills referred to either the House or Senate Education Committees. That is a grand total of 246 pieces of “education” legislation representing roughly 9 percent of legislation filed in the session. The purpose of this policy brief is to review some of the “high -profile” education bills during the session. The highlighted bills here are split into three categories: 1) school choice, 2) …

Due Process And Employee Performance, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As school boards face financial challenges due to a faltering nation economy and increasing calls for accountability, school business officials and other education leaders need to develop plans for effective documentation of staff performance to justify employment decisions and to avoid unnecessary litigation.

All states require education leaders to provide varying levels of due process when dealing with teachers and other staff members with tenure or continuing contracts who are subject to discipline or dismissal, but the laws often leave practical details unanswered.

The Legislative Purposes And Intent Of The Common Levy In Nebraska’S Learning Community, Matthew L. Blomstedt

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this historical study was to establish the purposes and intent of the common levy in Nebraska’s learning community. The development of this unique regional educational structure consisting of eleven school districts in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area is central to the study. The research detailed the context of the decisions made by the Nebraska Legislature to establish and implement the learning community law from 2005 and 2012. Specifically, the study focused on the establishment of a regional tax base, the common levy, as a response to boundary and finance instability that persisted in the Omaha area. The …

The Fallacy Of Free Market Democracy: Marginalization Through Chilean Health Care And Education, Robin L. Young

Senior Capstone Theses

This thesis examines how neoliberal policies implemented during Augusto Pinochet’s sixteen-year military regime in Chile have affected post-dictatorship democratization. It argues that democracy has been incomplete in Chile since the fall of Pinochet’s regime, due mainly to the three neoliberal policies of deregulation, decentralization, and decreased government funding. Through the detailed analysis of Chile’s health care and education systems, this thesis demonstrates how these neoliberal policies drastically changed social welfare practices in Chile during the 1980s, leading to extreme social inequality that has only continued to increase in the last thirty years. This social inequality, as well as the marginalization …

Categorical Funding In Arkansas, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

As a result of the Arkansas Supreme Court’s Lake View v. Huckabee Decision, the Public School Funding Act of 2003 established Arkansas’ current funding system. A part of the current system allocates additional funding for districts based on need (categorical funding). In doing so, the state recognizes that it is necessary to distribute additional funding based on educational need to meet adequacy and equity standards. The system allocates funding for groups of students who face particular challenges: Alternative Learning Environment students (ALE), English-language Learners (ELL), and students in poverty (National School Lunch Act). In the current legislative session, lawmakers are …

No Accounting For School Vouchers, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Judicial Clarity: Giving Teeth To The Application Of Federal Disability Laws In Charter Schools, Sarah Wieselthier Esq.

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Bamn! The Sixth Circuit Strikes Down Michigan's Proposal 2, J. Kevin Jenkins, Pamela Larde

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Applying The "Paradox" Theory: A Law And Policy Analysis Of Collective Bargaining Rights And Teacher Evaluation Reform From Selected States, Mark Paige J.D., Ph.D.

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Recent Employment Disputes Of Educators Engaged In Serving English Language Learners, Scott Ellis Ferrin

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Ten-Month School Year: Are We Ignoring Educational Research In Order To Preserve Summer Vacation? Finding A Compromise Between Educational Advancement And Over-Schooling, Mary Therese O'Sullivan

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Educational Federalism: A New Case For Reduced Federal Involvement In K-12 Education, Aaron Lawson

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Making Enemies Out Of Educators: The Legal And Social Consequences Of Disclosing New York City Teacher Data Reports, Frank G. Barile

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Criticality And The Pedagogical Reconstruction Of Leadership Standards In An Educational Leadership Classroom, William R. Black, Zorka Karanxha

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Faculty Publications

The authors describe their attempt to develop students’ critical perspectives on the content and assumptions in the 2008 Florida Principal Leadership Standards (FPLS) through a reflective essay assignment in a class titled Ethics, Equity, and Leadership in Education. The authors conducted textual analysis of 92 student essays (a total of 922 pages) submitted in 5 sections of a class from the summer of 2008 through the spring of 2009. The authors describe ways students analyze knowledge claims in the FPLS in relation to the standards’ considerable silence around issues of ethics and equity, which were central to the class: 1) …

Access To Facilities By Non-School Religious Groups: An Enduring Issue, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Among the many duties of school business officials (SBOs), their boards, and other education leaders is establishing policies governing access to district facilities. When disputes over access are litigated, the judiciary walks a fine line, as courts generally grant school officials discretion in defining use policies. However, as discussed below, when it comes to granting access to public school facilities, educators cannot violate the constitutional rights of a group based on the religious content of its speech.

In light of the enduring issue over access to facilities by nonschool religious groups, this column reviews relevant Supreme Court precedent before examining …

Fifth…Or Forty-Ninth? Examining Educational Rankings In Arkansas, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

Media outlets, as well as many leaders across the state, have recently been trumpeting the Natural State’s fifth-place ranking in the latest release of Education Week’s Quality Counts, which assigns letter grades to every state on a menu of education measures, to suggest that Arkansas schools “rank fifth in the country.” On the other hand, the state received a D on the Student Achievement category of Quality Counts and many Arkansans are accustomed to seeing Arkansas ranked at or near the bottom among all states on measures related to education and economic well-being. For example, on measures of college degree …

It's All About The Power, James Castagnera

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

No abstract provided.

Quality Counts 2013, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

In an attempt to gauge the educational progress of the nation and each state, Education Week has published state report cards since 1997 in its annual Quality Counts series. The 17 h annual report - Quality Counts 2013 - was released in January. Overall, Arkansas maintained last year’s ranking of 5 th among the 50 states and earned the highest score of the eight states in the U.S. that received a B- (dropping from a grade of ‘B’ last year). This policy brief examines Arkansas’ rank in each category of the report as well as the quality of the report …

Academic Performance Of Charter Schools In Arkansas: 2011-2012, Reed Greenwood, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The 2013 legislative session is underway, and there are a number of policy changes under consideration. One hotly-debated issue involves whether the state should allow for multiple authorizers for charter schools (currently, only the State Board of Education may authorize charter schools). Moreover, several charter schools will testify before the State Board of Education in spring 2013 seeking charter reauthorization. As the issue of charter schools again takes center stage, we present an extension of our 2012 policy brief focused on charter schools. While our previous brief presented descriptive data on state’s open enrollment charter schools, this policy brief takes …

Reexamining The Examiners: The Need For Increased Government Regulation Of Accreditation In Higher Education, Sarah Molinero

Duquesne Law Review

Higher education institutions in the United States must be accredited by an agency recognized by the Department of Education to be eligible to receive federal funding, making accreditation critical to an institution's survival. But while the federal government relies on accreditation as a benchmark for dispersing billions of taxpayer dollars each year, it specifically disclaims accountability for the quality of education that students actually receive at accredited institutions.

With the increase in for-profit education, mounting student loan debt, and a growing trend in competition for international student recruitment, the accreditation system utilized in the United States for over 100 years …

Ferpa: To Release Or Not To Release – That Is The Question, Sonja G. Cantrell

Admissions Faculty Research

FERPA is also referred to as the Buckley Amendment, which was originally created in 1974, and named after one of the proponents of the law, former New York Senator James. In my university’s Registrar’s Office, we receive requests to release non-directory student information almost daily, such as student class schedules or the grade received in a certain class. Requests come from a range of sources, including prospective employers, family members of elderly alumni, branches of the military, subpoena by courts or attorneys, and organizations seeking membership. Nevertheless, wherever these requests are generated, employees in my field must follow FERPA law …

Are Student Affairs Professionals “Educators?:” Student Affairs And The Scope Of The Educational Exemption Of Copyright Law, Dallas Long

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Copyright is a critical, emerging issue in American higher education. Copyright restricts how educators use copyrighted materials in teaching activities. Although the fair use doctrine and the educational exemption in U.S. copyright law provide exceptions for educators, student affairs professionals might not meet the standards of the educational exemption. This paper serves as a primer on U.S. copyright law, the fair use doctrine, and the educational exemption. Analyses of case law suggest student affairs professionals should rely on the fair use doctrine rather than the educational exemption when using copyrighted materials for educational purposes.

Handbook Of Comparative Higher Education Law, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The Handbook of Comparative Higher Education Law addresses legal issues from institutions of higher learning in seventeen countries on all six inhabited continents in a reader friendly manner. All chapters follow the same outline on institutional issues, faculty rights, student rights, and emerging issues so that similarities and differences can be compared. An introductory chapter provides an overview on the legal status of higher education as selected in various international covenants. In addition, a concluding chapter draws the themes addressed throughout the book together and centers on the concept of best practice management. This book serves as valuable resource for …

Key Legal Issues For Schools: The Ultimate Resource For School Business Officials, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

School business officials (SBOs) must, in many respects, serve as all things to all people in their workplaces. Put another way, SBOs must be knowledgeable about a wide range of legal issues ranging from contracts to setting policy to state biding laws let alone constitutional matters involving the rights of students and teachers. Aware of the fact that issues involving the law are at the heart of many of a SBO’s duties, the chapters in this edited book have been written by a diverse array of individuals with experience as educational leaders in schools and/ or who possess significant expertise …

"All Areas Of Suspected Disability", Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

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 …