Education Law Commons^™

Too Cruel For School: How Parental Rights Doctrine Can Help Protect Against Book Bans, Tessa K. Wild

William & Mary Law Review

This Note argues that parents’ rights protections are crucial to protecting against broad censorship in public schools, and that if states want to effectively regulate book removals, they should preemptively adopt laws similar to Minnesota’s section 134.51.

[...]

Part I of this Note will provide background information about book removals as a freedom of speech issue, as well as a history of how parents’ rights rhetoric is tied to book-removal issues. Part II will address both the history and legal standards of parents’ rights protections. Finally, Part III, using Minnesota and Utah as case studies, will apply parents’ rights law …

Not Born A Democracy: Constitutional Preconditions, Martha Minow

William & Mary Law Review

Beneath growing perceptions of constitutional crisis and democratic fragility in the United States lies a fundamental conundrum. Critical preconditions for effective self-government are either weak or missing in action, and our constitutional system, at least for now, stands in the way of actions to strengthen or build those preconditions. This Article focuses on three essential predicates for constitutional democracy that face jeopardy: education, reliable news, and security against lethal violence. As basic as these elements may be, repeated efforts to secure a federal constitutional right to education have failed in the courts. Because of a confluence of legal, technological, and …

Easing The Limits Of The Statute Of Limitations: A Path To A More Equitable Idea, Sarah Shepley

William & Mary Law Review

Part I of this Note discusses the special education framework, outlining the rights and obligations of parents and school systems created by the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). Part II evaluates the IDEA’s statute of limitations as the gatekeeping instrument of the due process complaint system and discusses the Third Circuit’s reconciliation of the seemingly conflicting statutory provisions of the IDEA in G.L. v. Ligonier Valley School District Authority. Part III situates the implications of the Ligonier decision within the broader special education landscape, discussing other courts’ adoption of or deviations from the Third Circuit’s interpretation, interpretations …

Tax Collectors For Fair Admissions: Advancing State-Level Tax Incentives To Curb Legacy Admissions, Patrick J. Labella

William & Mary Law Review

Part I of this Note will contextualize the practice of legacy admissions, describe its inherent unfairness and deleterious effects, and explain why—notwithstanding those concerns—some universities still employ the practice in their admissions processes. With that background, Part II of this Note will explain why fiscal incentives are the most appropriate mechanism to disincentivize legacy admissions practices. Part III will then evaluate the flawed federal fiscal proposals to curb legacy admissions, and Part IV will argue that state-level solutions should be preferred to federal ones to respect the values of federalism and promote the most narrowly-crafted, individualized, and state-specific solutions.

This …

Picking Through The Remnants Of Brown V. Board To Realize The Ideal Of Quality Public Education For All Children In The Post Covid-19 Era, Tiffani Darden

William & Mary Law Review

Brown, above and beyond eliminating the “separate but equal” doctrine, presented many socio-legal principles that were abdicated or diluted during the government’s COVID-19 response. This Article will address several strands recognized throughout the opinion’s seventy-year history by the courts and legal commentators that were illuminated during this period. First, the pursuit of quality education remains elusive for people of color and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Second, public education continues to be an aspirational pathway to upward social mobility and building a democracy composed of educated citizens. Third, the anti-subordination construction, as opposed to the anti-classification interpretation, of the …

The Right To A Nuisance-Free Public Education, Jamel K. Donnor

William & Mary Law Review

The aim of this Article is to discuss how Florida’s Individual Freedom Act infringes upon Black students’ constitutional right to learn about non-white supremacist ideas, their freedom to think, and a public school’s ability to offer Black-centered curricula content.

[...]

This Article explains that the Individual Freedom Act’s racially encoded wording establishes an academic environment for a racial nuisance to exist because its criteria authorize public education officials to label curricula content under the auspices of indoctrination, divisiveness, or educational value. While the term “nuisance” is typically reserved for determining reasonableness of an “interference with a right common to the …

Race Without Racism: Religious School Curricula And The Race-Neutral Legacy Of Brown, Vania Blaiklock

William & Mary Law Review

Current conversations about race and equity curricula in primary and secondary education exclude examining religious curricula because of their private classification. Yet, this omission prevents us from exploring how religious curricula might mirror the legal transformation of Brown’s racial equality legacy to constitutional race neutrality. This Article brings religious curricula into these conversations by specifically linking the Court’s race-neutral transformation of Brown to the way religious curricula frame discussions about race without racism. Throughout the Article, I argue that the Court’s transformation of Brown is not just a top-down legal framework but also a bottom-up educational ideology. By making …

Why You Cannot Find A Swing Justice When You Really Need One, Neal Devins

William & Mary Law Review

From Richard Nixon’s 1972 appointment of swing Justice Lewis Powell until Donald Trump’s 2018 appointment of Brett Kavanaugh (to replace swing Justice Anthony Kennedy), the swing Justice ruled the roost. Sometimes voting with the Court’s conservatives and other times with its liberals, the swing Justice often cast the deciding vote and often embraced a sui generis middle ground. Those days now seem like a distant memory. An ideologically simpatico majority coalition drives the post-2018 Roberts Court (especially after Justice Amy Coney Barrett filled Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat in 2020). In this Article, I will use the Court’s affirmative action …

"'Let's Not Go To Camelot, 'Tis Illegal'": History And Tradition In Discriminatory Charter School Policy Justifications: The Chivalry Edition, J.M. Long

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Article will begin in Part I with an overview of charter schools in the United States and a brief history of charter school growth in the United States. Part II then turns to focus upon charter schools and their growth in the state of North Carolina, emphasizing their legal uniqueness in relation to the North Carolina Constitution.

Second, CDS’s [Charter Day School, Inc.] dress code included a restriction for girls only— girls were required to wear either a dress or skorts (a combination of shorts covered with a skirt). Girls were not permitted to wear pants or shorts. The …

The First Amendment In Education: May Faculty At Public Schools Be Disciplined For Political Hate Speech?, Ken M. Levy

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

At a House hearing on December 5, 2023, the presidents of three universities— Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania—refused to state that certain kinds of hate speech, specifically calls for genocide of Jews, are prohibited on their campuses. The backlash against two of them, Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Penn’s Liz Magill, was swift and devastating; both were successfully pressured to resign. Still, while Professors Gay’s and Magill’s responses were widely criticized as tone-deaf, they were legally correct. At many private, and all public, colleges and universities, even the worst hate speech is generally protected unless it is accompanied by …

The Uncertain Future Of Restorative Justice: Anti-Woke Legislation, Retrenchment And Politics Of The Right, Thalia González, Mara Schiff

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

As diverse forms of anti-democratic and anti-inclusionary politics escalate in the United States, public education is increasingly a site for retrenchment and contestation with targeted efforts to silence and erase civil rights victories for equity and access. Addressing a critical, yet unattended issue at the intersection of education law and policy and civil rights, this Article joins with the growing discourse interrogating the “parental rights” movement and racially regressive legislation. Employing a case study analysis of social movement activism and education policy legislation from 2018–2023 in Florida, it aims to provoke critical praxis emanating from essential inquiry— what is the …

Standpoint Epistemology, The First Amendment, And University Affirmative Action, Paul Gowder

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Egalitarian legal scholars understandably might have been troubled by the end of June 2023, when, on two successive days, the Supreme Court appeared to put an end to public as well as to private university affirmative action on a theory of race discrimination in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, then appeared to put an end to the application of anti-discrimination law to any private enterprise that could be characterized as “expressive” in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. Yet the June 30 case, I shall contend, has the potential to undermine the negative impact of the June 29 …

Critical Race Theory Bans And The Changing Canon: Cultural Appropriation In Narrative, Susan Ayres

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Thirty-five states have enacted critical race theory (CRT) bans at the level of elementary and secondary public education, and eleven states have extended these to the university level. One way to resist these attempts to repress a healthy democracy by whitewashing history is through a pedagogy of anti-racism, including literary works. The question of what that would look like involves questions of cultural appropriation, which occurs when one takes from another culture, such as a writer creating a narrative about a character outside of the writer’s cultural identity. This Article considers the story of Ota Benga, brought from the Congo …

The Unfinished Business Of Desegregation: Race Conscious College Admissions, Wendy B. Scott

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This rejection of race conscious admissions practices under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by the [Supreme] Court requires a revisit to desegregation jurisprudence and practice to demonstrate why the considerations of race in higher education admissions fulfills the desegregation mandate. Given its rich history and contributions to the formation of equality norms and affirmative action, desegregation jurisprudence and practice provide a foundation for the premise that the use of race in college admissions constitutes a compelling state interest, supported by specific evidence of discrimination, that moves us closer to the democratization of education and racial equality under …

Pathways To Liberty: What Colonial, Antebellum, And Postbellum Education Can Teach Us About Today, Danielle Wingfield

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Education is a critical part of nation-building. More specifically, it can also be a powerful pathway to liberty and a tool for disseminating knowledge. However, historically it has been used to subjugate and censor vulnerable groups like women, socio-economically disadvantaged persons, as well as men of color. Therefore, to avoid subordinating members of such minoritized groups and suppressing uncomfortable historical facts, advocates must continually evaluate the purpose and method of education. Such persistent monitoring can provide a basis for constructive reform of public education in the United States. Such reform must also consider changing social conditions.

Presently, for example, public …

The Illusion Of Due Process In School Discipline, Diana Newmark

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Long-term suspensions and expulsions can be enormously consequential for students and their families. Not only do exclusionary disciplinary measures directly result in lost learning opportunities for children, but school discipline decisions can also result in significant collateral consequences. These consequences range from lower rates of graduation and higher rates of contact with the criminal justice system to disruptions in foster care placements, violations of juvenile probation, and even possible immigration consequences for undocumented students.

The Supreme Court has recognized the significance of suspensions and expulsions, requiring due process for such exclusionary discipline measures. But the Supreme Court has never explained …

Beating Justice: Corporal Punishment In American Schools And The Evolving Moral Constitution, Timothy D. Intelisano

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This Note will discuss the Supreme Court’s holding in Ingraham v. Wright, and the subsequent developments in public school corporal punishment practices. Rather than focus exclusively on the case law, this Note will dive into the statistical data outlining which students are most often subjected to corporal punishment. Often, it is Black students and Autistic students who are subject to the harshest treatment.

This Note will outline the different avenues that courts could and should take to overrule Ingraham. Because a circuit split exists—on the issue of how to resolve these claims—overturning Ingraham and declaring corporal punishment per …

Technology Integration In Higher Education And Student Privacy Beyond Learning Environments -- A Comparison Of The Uk And Us Perspective, Iria Giuffrida, Alex Hall

Faculty Publications

Technology integration in higher education (HE) has brought immense innovation. While research is investigating the benefits of leveraging, through learning analytics, the data created by the greater presence of technology in HE, it is also analysing the privacy implications of vast universes of data now at the fingertips of HE administrators. This paper argues that student privacy challenges linked to technology integration occur not only within but also beyond learning environments, namely at the enterprise level. By analysing the UK and US legal frameworks surrounding how HE institutions respond to parents demanding disclosure of their adult children's personal data in …

Indoctrination By Elimination: Why Banning Critical Race Theory In Public Schools Is Unconstitutional, Emma Postel

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Note argues that Texas public school students’ First Amendment Rights have been violated by the passage of Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), which bans the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K–12 public schools. The First Amendment is violated here because (1) students have a First Amendment right to speech, and this law bans protected speech; (2) students have a right to receive information, and this ban prevents them from receiving information; and (3) schools are meant to be the marketplace of ideas for students and banning CRT amounts to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. This Note does not suggest …

Assessing The Racial Implications Of Ncaa Academic Measures, Timothy Davis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In 1983, the NCAA’s adoption of heightened initial eligibility standards for incoming intercollegiate athletes was met with applause and criticism. Proponents lauded the measure as a legitimate means of restoring academic integrity within intercollegiate athletics. Opponents questioned whether seemingly racially neutral eligibility standards had a disproportionately negative impact on African American athletes. It is against this backdrop that the Article examines the racial implications of the NCAA’s past and present academic standards.

These standards consist of initial eligibility rules, progress-toward-degree requirements, the graduation success rate, and academic progress rate, the latter two of which comprise the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program. …

Title Ix's Trans Panic, Deborah L. Brake

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Sport has long been a site of struggle over competing conceptions of social justice, with no cultural flashpoint more contested than gender. A key site of contention has been the meaning and application of Title IX. With June of 2022 marking the law’s fiftieth anniversary, Title IX has been lauded as the law that launched girls’ and women’s sports from the shadows to their present, more celebrated posture. As these anniversary tributes often emphasize, female athletic participation has soared to new heights in all levels of sports. But Title IX also houses tensions and dilemmas for gender justice that were …

Title Ix In Historical Context: 50 Years Of Progress And Political Gamesmanship, Helen Drew, Marissa Egloff, Josie Middione

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

On the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX, it is important to recognize both its historic nature and how it has evolved in political and social context. This Article will begin by examining the history of women’s athletics pre–Title IX, focusing on what activities women participated in, why, and how societal norms shaped their ability to do so. Next, the Article will examine the status of women’s athletic opportunities as Title IX was first proposed, with an emphasis upon its nexus to the women’s rights movement and the Equal Rights Amendment initiative. The Article will then provide historical background for key …

What's Wrong With The Ncaa's New Transgender Athlete Policy?, Erin Buzuvis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In 2022, the NCAA changed its long-standing policy permitting transgender athletes to participate in teams that correspond to their affirmed gender. For twelve years, the NCAA permitted transgender women to participate in women’s sports events under NCAA control, so long as they first underwent a year of androgen suppression. Starting in 2020, however, a political movement to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sport, galvanized by backlash against a single collegiate swimmer, has challenged NCAA’s inclusive approach. Rather than demonstrate leadership and support for rights of transgender women to compete, the NCAA revised its policy to one …

Title Ix & Disparate Impact: The Harmful Effects Of Abstinence-Centric Education, Olivia S. Lanctot

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Throughout the United States, schools are failing to provide students with comprehensive sex education that equips student with the life skills necessary for healthy relationships. This shortcoming has numerous psychological, emotional, and physical health consequences for the American youth. This Note will focus on how abstinence-centric curricula can influence sexual and teen dating violence. Presently, only one state requires instruction on consent, leaving most students to first encounter consent education or anti-harassment training in higher education institutions or the workplace. In light of the high rates of violence many young people experience before turning eighteen, this instruction often comes too …

Ending School Brutality, Nicole Tuchinda

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Children, especially Black children, are killed, traumatized, injured, and terrorized through assaults, solitary confinement, inappropriate handcuffing, and other excessive applications of physical force upon children in public schools. The state employees enacting such maltreatment are not just police. They are mainly teachers, principals, and security guards, and they are given authorization by law for purposes of “educating,” “disciplining,” and “maintaining order” in public schools. Scientific research does not support the use of physical force to improve behavior, however. This Article describes the problem of school brutality, the excessive, unwarranted, and traumatizing use of physical force by state employees upon students. …

Goss V. Lopez As A Vehicle To Examine Due Process Protection Issues With Alternative Schools, Ashton Tuck Scott

William & Mary Law Review

Circuits are split on whether students are entitled to procedural protections before school officials may force them into alternative schools. This Note argues that students facing an involuntary transfer to a disciplinary alternative school are entitled to procedural protections under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part I explains the trend toward the use of disciplinary alternative schools and the social and educational harms that these schools exacerbate. Part II explores the current circuit split around the procedural due process rights of students facing involuntary transfer to an alternative school. Part III argues that courts should expand the …

The Constitutional Right To Carry Firearms On Campus, Jared A. Tuck

William & Mary Law Review

Do individuals have the fundamental right under the Second Amendment to carry firearms on the campus of a public university? Additionally, can a public university totally ban firearms on its campus without impeding on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment? This Note will argue that individuals have a narrow, but constitutionally guaranteed, right to carry firearms on the campus of a public university. Therefore, it is beyond the power of states and public universities to totally ban firearms from campus premises.

Education, Antidomination, And The Republican Guarantee, Kip M. Hustace

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Article offers a new interpretation of the United States Constitution’s republican guarantee and theorizes its protection of a fundamental right to education. Courts and education law scholars have identified the republican guarantee as a plausible source of educational rights but have not detailed how. Drawing on recent work by legal scholars, historians, political scientists, and philosophers, this Article reinterprets the guarantee as the federal government’s obligation to secure freedom as nondomination, and it argues that excellent, equitable public education is necessary to fulfilling this duty. Nondomination, a robust conception of freedom, is freedom from subjection to the will of …

Reform, Retrench, Repeat: The Campaign Against Critical Race Theory, Through The Lens Of Critical Race Theory, Vivian E. Hamilton

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

The protest movement ignited by the 2020 murder of George Floyd was of a scale unprecedented in U.S. history. The movement raised the nation’s consciousness of racial injustices and spurred promises—and the beginnings—of justice-oriented reform. Reform and racial progress, however, have rarely been linear over the course of U.S. history. Instead, they typically engender resistance and retrenchment. The response to the current justice movement is no exception. One manifestation of the retrenchment has been a rush by states to enact legislation curtailing race-related education in government workplaces and in public schools, colleges, and universities.

These legislative measures purport to prevent …

A Q&A With Homeschooling Reform Advocates Elizabeth Bartholet And James Dwyer, Elizabeth Bartholet, James Dwyer

Popular Media

Elizabeth Bartholet, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor and Faculty Director of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP), and James Dwyer, the Arthur B. Hanson Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, were interviewed by Harvard Law Today about their virtual conference titled, Homeschool Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects for Reform. The June event was attended by leaders in education and child welfare policy, legislators and legislative staff, academics and policy advocates, medical professionals, homeschooling alumni, and others, to discuss children’s rights in connection with homeschooling in the United States.