Education Law Commons^™

Darwin, Design, And Disestablishment: Teaching The Evolution Controversy In Public Schools, Jay D. Wexler

Vanderbilt Law Review

The controversy over teaching evolution in public schools is once again hot news. Ever since the Supreme Court decided in 1987 that Louisiana could not constitutionally require teachers to give equal time to teaching creation science and evolution, critics of evolution have adopted a variety of new strategies to change the way in which public schools present the subject to their students. These strategies have included teaching evolution as a "theory" rather than as a fact, disclaiming the truth of evolutionary theory, teaching arguments against evolution, teaching the allegedly nontheistic theory of intelligent design instead of creationism, removing evolution from …

Silence Of The Lambs: Are States Attempting To Establish Religion In Public Schools?, Linda D.W. Lam

Vanderbilt Law Review

The proper role of religion in public schools has been a topic of bitter debate for many years. While one group of individuals believes that there should be a complete separation of church and state, another group believes that religion should have an integral place in public education. Although both groups have looked to the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the First Amendment to support their respective positions, each has been unable to find clear, definitive support regarding the appropriate relationship between religion and public schools, as there was no public education system at that time. One major issue that …

A Search For The Best Idea: Balancing The Conflicting Provisions Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Joshua A. Wolfe

Vanderbilt Law Review

One issue that is consistently at the forefront of political debate in America is the educational system. The debate over education involves funding, accountability, and curriculum issues, among others. One education issue that does not receive as much attention as some of the more politically charged issues is special education.

The goal of the American public school system is to educate all children, but how should that goal be implemented with regard to learning-disabled children? How does the educational system meet the individualized needs of disabled students while ensuring that these students are not isolated from the rest of the …

Beyond The Blackboard: Regulating Distance Learning In Higher Education, Leslie T. Thornton

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

It is not so surprising that traditional institutions of higher education have been relatively slower than businesses, for example, to embrace the potential of the new technologies, and have lost students to those institutions and businesses which have been more willing to change. But technology is playing an enormous role in the shape, size, and direction of education, and it's not waiting for the leaders of traditional institutions--or anyone else, for that matter--to join the club.

This Article examines the scope and impact of that role, specifically as it has developed through a new trend toward online "distance education" or …

Transforming Education: The Lesson From Argentina, Anne P. Dupre

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article traces education reforms in Argentina from the colonial period to the present. Specifically, the Article focuses on La Ley Federal de Educacion, passed in 1993, which sought to reform primary and secondary education throughout Argentina by promoting educational equity through a just distribution of educational services and opportunity.

The Article begins with a description of the current Argentine federal republic and the relationship of the federal government and the provinces. Next, the Article describes the development of the Argentine education system.

It continues by explaining the backdrop of the adoption of Ley Federal. The Author describes the act's …

Returning To The True Goal Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: Self-Sufficiency, Robert C. Hannon

Vanderbilt Law Review

This country has long recognized the necessity of an education in order to function productively in society. As suggested by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, "some degree of education is necessary to prepare citizens to participate effectively and intelligently in our open political system." More recently, the Supreme Court recognized the importance of education in Brown v. Board of foreclose the means by which that group might raise the level of es- teem in which it is held by the majority .... Illiteracy is an enduring disability."

Today this need to educate remains just as pressing. Our country …

Comparing United States And New Zealand Legal Education: Are U.S. Law Schools Too Good?, Gregory S. Crespi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article offers a thoughtful comparison of the legal educational systems of the United States and New Zealand. The author highlights the significant differences between these two legal educational systems by contrasting their admissions policies, clinical programs, "law-and-economics" electives, and staffing of required courses. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that although U.S. law schools are clearly "better," such superiority may have been achieved at too high of a cost, in terms of both the substantial resources now devoted to legal education which could otherwise be applied to alternative uses and the problematic effects of the stratified legal educational …

L'Affaire Des Foulards--Discrimination, Or The Price Of A Secular Public Education System?, Cynthia D. Baines

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note examines the recent controversy over France's ban against "ostentatious" religious symbols in public schools. The only ostentatious symbol targeted by the French government, however, has been the head scarves worn by Muslim schoolgirls. The author explores the roots of the current ban by examining France's tradition of assimilation of immigrants and its constitutionally mandated secular public education system. The author also compares France's interests in prohibiting head scarves with the Muslim students' interests in practicing their religion. Finally, the author concludes that the French policy of banning head scarves from school is not only impractical, but likely a …

Leaving Equality Behind: New Directions In School Finance Reform, Peter Enrich

Vanderbilt Law Review

Public education, in most states, is funded in substantial part from local property taxes. As a result, resources vary widely from one school system to another, and schools in poorer communities are often severely underfunded. Over the past quarter century, many of these state financing systems have been challenged as unconstitutional, initially under the federal Equal Protection Clause and subsequently, after the Supreme Court's adverse decision in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, under equal protection clauses and education clauses included in state constitutions. These state constitutional provisions can support challenges that attack school financing systems either for the …

Out Of Focus: The Misapplication Of Traditional Equitable Principles In The Nontraditional Arena Of School Desegregation, Joseph H. Bates

Vanderbilt Law Review

Karl Marx wrote that all historical facts occur twice--the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.' In the desegregation of Little Rock, Arkansas, the genres were reversed. In 1957 the opportunistic Governor Orvall Faubus reduced to farce the Little Rock Board of Education's initial attempt to comply with the United States Supreme Court's decree in Brown v. Board of Education when he ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prohibit nine black students from entering Little Rock High School. In 1983, after more than two decades of continuous court supervision and intermittent litigation, the tragedy began when the Little …

The Lingering Legacy Of "In Loco Parentis": An Historical Survey And Proposal For Reform, Brian Jackson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The changing legal relationship between students and their college or university reflects the evolution of higher education in this country. During the Colonial period and the early years of the Republic, higher education was conducted mainly through small, church-affiliated colleges. In most cases, the founders and faculties of early American schools imitated the collegiate systems of Oxford and Cambridge. Stu- dents and their teachers aspired to withdraw from the world of everyday affairs to live and work in an environment that mirrored the families students left behind. Faculties were concerned not only with intellectual advancement but also with the development …

Academic Freedom And The University Title Vii Suit After University Of Pennsylvania V. Eeoc And Brown V. Trustees Of Boston University, Clisby L.H. Barrow

Vanderbilt Law Review

Tenure' is the crowning laurel of academia. The process of reviewing a candidate for tenure at the university level generally begins with an evaluation and recommendation by a group of the candidate's peers. Candidates who are denied tenure may seek judicial review of the decision and discovery of peer review materials. Not surprisingly, universities encourage courts to defer to tenure decisions and to deny plaintiffs access to confidential peer review documents.Traditionally, in fact, courts have given great deference to university tenure decisions. Judicial deference has pervaded every phase of review from discovery to trial and remedy. As deference to university …

Education And The Court: The Supreme Court's Educational Ideology, William B. Senhauser

Vanderbilt Law Review

The need for a definition of the functions and goals of public education is a pressing problem in our society. American society is characterized by increasing alienation, weakening family ties, and waning church influence. The result is that education will play a greater role as one of the remaining institutions to help reach societal consensus and ensure the continued vitality of American democracy. Increasing controversy and litigation over students' and parents' rights in the educational process demonstrate widespread concern with the role of public education.' As the complexities of modern society increase and the public begins to believe American cultural …

"Good Faith" And The Discharge Of Educational Loans In Chapter 13: Forging A Judicial Consensus, Jerome M. Organ

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 19781 Congress sought to accomplish many goals, some of which appear internally incompatible. For example, Congress enacted section 523(a)(8) to limit the dischargeability of educational loans in Chapter 7 liquidations. At the same time, however, Congress enacted the new Chapter 13 to encourage consumer debtors--including student borrowers--to elect repayment plans whenever feasible. Chapter 13 contains a"superdischarge" provision, which offers debtors a much broader discharge than the discharge that is available under section 523(a) in straight bankruptcy. While section 523(a)(8) excepts educational loans from discharge, section 1328(a) of Chapter 13 does not except them from …

Corporal Punishment In Public Schools: Constitutional Challenge After Ingraham V. Wright, Charles L. Schlumberger

Vanderbilt Law Review

Corporal punishment has been employed to maintain discipline and order in American schools since the colonial period.' During that era, the practice was not restricted to the classroom: corporal punishment was the generally accepted mode of correction for practically every civil and criminal offense. Attitudes toward correction did not begin to change until after the American Revolution. Since then, corporal punishment has been steadily discarded as a method of correction in both prisons and the military. Despite discontinuance in these areas, corporal punishment remains a well-established facet of the American educational process. Only a few states and municipalities have legislative …

Simple Justice In The Cradle Of Liberty: Desegregating The Boston Public Schools, Ronald R. Edmonds

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article provides a summary view of the desegregation of the Boston public schools. Some aspects of teaching and learning in the Boston schools clearly have improved as a direct consequence of Boston's desegregation, while others seem little affected. Teaching and learning are mentioned at the outset because later discussion will establish that black Bostonians seek desegregation as part of their larger and more general quest for improved schooling for their children.' The success or failure of desegregation therefore may fairly be judged partly on the basis of its effect upon the quality of schooling made available to black children. …

The Inheritance Of Economic Status - By John A. Brittain, Michael R. Olneck

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Inheritance of Economic Status - by John A. Brittain

In the- mid-1960's and in the early 1970's, research results appeared that challenged conventional liberal beliefs about the causes and consequences of poverty. In 1966 the federal government published Equality of Educational Opportunity, a report prepared by James Coleman and his associates.' The data used in the report contained the startling result that, with some exceptions, within regions, the provision of educational resources was substantially uniform across racial and socioeconomic groups. Moreover, the data showed that what measurable differences existed between the schools attended by disadvantaged and advantaged students did …

A Revolution In White--New Approaches In Treating Nurses As Professionals, Walter T. Eccard

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note will review the development of nursing as a profession, discuss current trends in nursing, review the current case law in light of these developments, and, finally, propose alternative approaches to the questions relating to nursing malpractice. Specifically, this Note will examine the questions of the appropriate statute of limitations for nursing malpractice cases, the need for nurses as expert witnesses in malpractice actions, and the proper standard of care for a registered nurse. These questions will be considered in the context of the various state licensure laws, the newly established nurse certification programs, and the formal educational training …

The Monkey Laws And The Public Schools: A Second Consumption?, Frederic S. Le Clercq

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent events suggest that the creationist movement is both potent and truly national. in scope. In California, the science curriculum guidelines for public schools were modified by a sympathetic state board of education to accommodate the creationist position.' Science textbooks for use in the public schools of California are being edited to dilute passages on evolution, and creationists almost achieved express recognition of their beliefs in the science texts. In Tennessee, a law has been passed that requires inclusion of the Biblical account of creation in biology textbooks used in the public schools." Similar legislation to require treatment of creationist …

Recent Cases, Vanderbilt Law Review

Vanderbilt Law Review

Civil Rights--Private Education-Racially Discriminatory Admissions Policies Violate Right to Contract Provision of 42 U.S.C. § 1981

Plaintiffs, ' blacks who had been denied admission solely on the basis of their race to two all-white private schools that received no state aid,' sought damages and injunctive relief in federal district court contending that these rejections violated section 1981 of 42 U.S.C. by denying them the same right to contract as enjoyed by white citizens.

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Copyright--Telecommunications--CATV Importation of Distant Television Signals Constitutes Infringement Under Sections One (c) & (d) of the Copyright Act

Plaintiffs,' creators and producers of television programs,brought a …

Constitutional Requirements For Standardized Ability Tests Used In Education, Lewis D. Beckwith

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note examines the groundwork for possible legal remedies to correct the abuses of tests and testing procedures used by some educators. Because the standardized ability tests administered as prerequisites to college admission are perhaps the most significant obstacles to an individual's educational development, the discussion herein is directed primarily to them. This Note attempts to demonstrate that existing legal doctrines provide an adequate basis for challenging some of the standardized ability tests used in determining college entrance requirements as violations of equal protection and procedural due process. It also discusses the scope of a proper remedy for individuals aggrieved …

Post--Brown Private White Schools--An Imperfect Dualism, James E. Smith

Vanderbilt Law Review

Federal courts have endeavored to assure that private discrimination practiced by schools is truly private. In this endeavor, courts have enjoined any significant state involvement as violative of the equal protection clause. The courts have shown no inclination to prohibit the private discrimination itself, however, and it appears unlikely that courts in the near future will take the innovative step of barring discrimination practiced by private white academies.

The Negro College: Role And Prospect, Herman H. Long

Vanderbilt Law Review

American higher education, especially in the Negro college, is in a time of major crisis; the institutions are beset by many new problems and issues. Perhaps at no other time in the nation's history has higher education been more widely discussed and written about in the public press as well as in educational circles. Indeed, higher education has emerged in recent years as a national issue that ranks close to the problems of poverty, welfare, and the decline of the cities. A national policy on higher education is being formulated; resource allocation priorities are being determined; and Congress is struggling …

Defining And Attaining Equal Educational Opportunity In A Pluralistic Society, Ernest Q. Campbell

Vanderbilt Law Review

We in America have never made peace with the concept of pluralism. As a nation, we are fundamentally committed to the ideal of "equal opportunity"; yet, despite our presumably concomitant dedication to the principle that society should accommodate diverse values and goals,we have not conceptualized any means of determining whether equality of opportunity exists except by measuring people on the same scale. We have an appropriate rhetoric for describing equal opportunity--self-actualization, through which each person develops to the fullest extent in those directions that he or she wishes--but we have no institutionalized standards for determining whether realization of potential has …

Recent Developments, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the recent decision of Bradley v. School Board, a Virginia federal court ordered the consolidation of the predominantly black Richmond school district with the surrounding all-white suburban school districts of Henrico and Chesterfield Counties. This decision marks the first time that a court has consolidated two or more autonomous school districts for the purpose of achieving a racial balance in the schools that reflects the racial composition of the consolidated areas as a whole. While Judge Merhige in Bradley punctiliously followed the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and its earlier desegregation …

Legal Education: A More Optimistic View, Robert B. Mckay

Vanderbilt Law Review

While few would disagree with Dean Forrester's statement that"America is now in the midst of an attempted revolution," several questions naturally arise. Dean Forrester does not identify the nature and goals of the "attempted revolution," but the inference is that he disapproves. One wonders whether he objects to change because it challenges the status quo; whether he disagrees with the direction of the proposed change; or whether he opposes the method, particularly the abruptness, with which change is being forced upon us. Each possibility merits response.

Change Versus the Status Quo. It would be unfair to Dean Forrester to suggest …

College Education As A Legal Necessary, R. Douglas Wrightsel

Vanderbilt Law Review

This note seeks to determine whether a college education is a legal necessary, or perhaps it would be better to say for what purposes it may be necessary. Then we shall consider what consequences may flow from calling it a necessary, and how intelligent legal planning can achieve the most favorable consequences. Controversy over whether a college education is a necessary has centered primarily in two areas. The first major area is the divorce situation in which the court is petitioned to include in the support decree a sum for the college education of the child. The second area involves …

Racial Imbalance In The Public Schools: Constitutional Dimensions And Judicial Response, David B. King

Vanderbilt Law Review

Eleven years after the decision of the Supreme Court in the School Segregation Cases, white and Negro children remain separated in many school systems throughout the nation. In the South this racial separation has been persistently fostered by both school and public officials. Since the rationale of the School Segregation Cases to the effect that official policy requiring separation on the basis of race is prohibited, this racial separation in the South, commonly known as segregation, is clearly illegal. Separation of the races in the school systems of the North and West has resulted both from devious types of racially …

The Educated Citizen's Responsibility In An Age Of Change, John F. Kennedy

Vanderbilt Law Review

Many things bring us together today. We are saluting the ninetieth anniversary of Vanderbilt University, which has grown from a small Tennessee university and institution to one of our nation's greatest, with seven different colleges, and with more than half of its 4,200 students from outside of the State of Tennessee. And we are saluting the thirtieth anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which transformed a parched, depressed, and flood-ravaged region into a fertile, productive center of industry, science,and agriculture. We are saluting-by initiating construction of a dam in his name--a great Tennessee statesman, Cordell Hull, the father of reciprocal …

The Dedication, Harvie Branscomb

Vanderbilt Law Review

This is a day of rejoicing for all of those who love this University, for those who know the quality of this School, and for those who are aware of the role which a great school of law can play in the progress of this southern region. We are grateful to all of you for coming to help us celebrate this accomplishment, especially grateful to those of you who bring greetings from other schools of law, and for those of you who have had a part in this program and will have a part in it this morning. This day …