Education Law Commons^™

Home, Schooling, And State: Education In, And For, A Diverse Democracy, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

Since the late nineteenth century, virtually all school-aged children have attended school; only rarely did children live and learn entirely within their homes. In recent decades, however, the practice of elective homeschooling has emerged, and the number of families opting out of regular schools has surged. Currently, the parents of nearly two million school-aged children annually eschew traditional schooling.

A small but well-resourced homeschool lobby has aggressively pressured state legislators to withdraw state oversight of homeschooling. No similarly resourced lobby exists to counterbalance these efforts. As a result, states now impose few—and in some cases, no—obligations on parents who choose …

Homeschooling: A Response To Ahlberg, Howell, And Justice, James G. Dwyer, Shawn F. Peters

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Private Schools' Role And Rights In Setting Vaccination Policy: A Constitutional And Statutory Puzzle, Hillel Y. Levin

William & Mary Law Review

Measles and other vaccine-preventable childhood diseases are making a comeback, as a growing number of parents are electing not to vaccinate their children. May private schools refuse admission to these students? This deceptively simple question raises complex issues of First Amendment law and statutory interpretation, and it also has implications for other current hot-button issues in constitutional law, including whether private schools may discriminate against LGBTQ students. This Article is the first to address the issue of private schools’ rights to exclude unvaccinated children. It finds that the answer is “it depends.” It also offers a model law that states …

Towards A Transnational Critical Race Theory In Education: Proposing Critical Race Third World Approaches To Education Policy, Steven L. Nelson

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

Scholars have applied Critical Race Theory in both domestic and international contexts; however, a theory on the transnational role of race and racism in education policy has not emerged. In this Article, I borrow from the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) to formulate Critical Race Third World Approaches to Education Policy (TWAEPCrit). In constructing this theory, I argue that Black Americans are in practice and lived experience treated as third world citizens, even as they reside in the United States. I prove the third world status of Black peoples in the …

University Inventions Reconsidered: Debunking The Myth Of University Ownership, Patricia E. Campbell

William & Mary Business Law Review

Most universities today assert ownership rights over all patentable inventions (and many other types of intellectual property) created by members of the university community, including faculty, staff, students, visitors, and others. Universities then attempt to license that intellectual property (IP) to third parties, in order to generate revenue for the university and to give the public the benefit of innovations developed by the institution, often with the use of federal funds. This Article provides an evaluation of the technology transfer policies and practices of U.S. universities. Part I surveys the IP policies of a representative group of universities, showing that …

Endrew's Impact On Twice-Exceptional Students, Catherine A. Bell

William & Mary Law Review

Approximately 2 to 5 percent of the American student population qualifies as both gifted and learning disabled. These students, labeled by educators as “twice-exceptional,” generally demonstrate superior cognitive ability, yet also present profound weaknesses in seemingly basic skills. This disconnect in twice-exceptional students’ abilities produces great difficulties for America’s public schools.

Twice-exceptional students, as a result of their disability, can generally qualify for special education services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA). Once a student qualifies for services under the IDEIA, he is entitled to receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The …

Dear Colleague: Due Process Is Not Under Attack At Colleges And Universities, As Shown Through A Comparative Analysis Of College Disciplinary Committees And American Juries, Mara Emory Shingleton

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Restoring Fairness To Campus Sex Tribunals, Cynthia Ward

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Education Through Devotion: A Religious Solution To Eastern Turkey's Gender Gap, Joshua E. Thomas

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

Turkey has much room for improvement regarding women’s education opportunities—particularly in eastern Anatolia. Despite the Turkish Republic’s outward secular appearance, Islamic law plays an increasingly important role in society. A potential solution to the government’s sluggish progress on gender equality may lie in the utilization of their religious directorate (Diyanet). The Diyanet could issue fatwas sympathetic to women’s rights, which may more effectively reach the conservative eastern Turkish population.

The Invisible Victims Of The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Understanding Black Girls, School Push-Out, And The Impact Of The Every Student Succeeds Act, Bianca A. White

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

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Silence Of Speech: Academic Safe Spaces, The Free Speech Critique, And The Solution Of Free Association, Trevor N. Ward

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Equal Liberty In Proportion, Joshua E. Weishart

William & Mary Law Review

As federal law continues to devolve more education policy making to states, state courts will remain a primary forum for settling education rights. State fora do not inspire confidence, however, because their doctrine is so uncertain. A majority of state supreme courts do not specify a level of scrutiny and at times seem to be improvising judicial review. The resulting decisions can exhibit a troubling lack of foresight. Most notably, while federal doctrine increasingly reveals the interrelation of liberty and equality claims, state courts have failed to capitalize on that point—even though their decisions were among the first to concede …

Fixer Upper: Reforming Vergara’S Teacher Tenure Statutes, Abigail Hoglund-Shen

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Religious Schooling And Homeschooling Before And After Hobby Lobby, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

The most serious incursions on religious liberty in America today are being inflicted on children by parents and private school operators through power the State has given them. This Article examines the potential effect of the Court’s Hobby Lobby decision on interpreting the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) on both federal and state levels, detailing why the Court’s decision is irrelevant to addressing the incursions on liberty experienced by children subject to religious and home schooling.

Ultimately, the Article finds that home schools and private schools are unfazed by the Hobby Lobby decision in their capacities as employers and educators …

Taking Teacher Quality Seriously, Derek W. Black

William & Mary Law Review

Although access to quality teachers is one of the most important aspects of a quality education, explicit concern with teacher quality has been conspicuously absent from past litigation over the right to education. Instead, past litigation has focused almost exclusively on funding. Though that litigation has narrowed gross fundinggaps between schools in many states, it has not changed what matters most: access to quality teachers.

This Article proposes a break from the traditional approach to litigating the constitutional right to education. Rather than constitutionalizing adequate or equal funding, courts should constitutionalize quality teaching. The recent success of the constitutional challenge …

Do Teacher Pay For Performance Schemes Advance American Education? What Education And Business Can Learn From Each Other In The Education Reform Movement, Devin R. Bates

William & Mary Business Law Review

States are quickly moving away from the uniform salary schedule used to compensate teachers and are instead implementing various forms of Pay for Performance. While Pay for Performance compensation schemes have proved effective in some areas of business, they are not uniformly applicable and are ill-suited to education reform. By outlining recent developments in this area of the law and by reviewing the justifications for Pay for Performance schemes, this Note shows what education can learn from business and what business can learn from education. Ultimately, it is in the self-interest of businesses to oppose the implementation of Pay for …

Section 5: Race, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

A Crowded Room Or The Perfect Fit? Exploring Affirmative Action Treatment In College And University Admissions For Self-Identified Lgbt Individuals, Herbert C. Brown Jr.

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

This Article explores affirmative action treatment for self-identified LGBT individuals in college and university admissions. This Article seeks to explain that while granting affirmative action treatment to self-identified students in the admission process is constitutional, under the current affirmative action precedent, there is a lack of sufficient justification for such an expansion. This Article will also explore the advantages and disadvantages should colleges and universities choose to implement affirmative action programs for LGBT applicants.

Section I of this Article will begin by depicting the evolution of affirmative action programs since their inception in the early 1960s. This section will also …

Dias V. Archdiocese Of Cincinnati: Deciphering The Ministerial Exception To Title Vii Post-Hosanna-Tabor, Caroline O. Dehaan

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

No abstract provided.

Unmuting The Volume: Fisher, Affirmative Action Jurisprudence, And The Legacy Of Racial Silence, Mae Kuykendall, Charles Adside Iii

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

As typified by its recent decisions in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin and Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence concerning race has long imposed strict judicial oversight over any use of race for the formulation of public policy. This top-down approach has invited various undesirable outcomes, the most pernicious of which are the endorsement of silence on the subject of race and the delegitimizing of most public deliberations about race by non-Court actors. Consequently, speech within universities and other learning environments regarding race has become a psychologically challenging risk for both students and faculty, who justifiably …

Eating Hot Peppers To Avoid Hiv/Aids: New Challenges To Failing Abstinence-Only Programs, Erica Woebse

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

This Note examines abstinence-only education curricula, including its history, criticisms against it, and the failure of judicial challenges to end its promotion and federal funding. It addresses how abstinence-only education has managed to remain a central means of teaching sexual education, despite its ineffective and controversial nature. Finally, this Note will discuss how abstinence-only education curricula may fall out of favor or be modified with new state and federal requirements that sexual educational curricula be medically accurate. This is demonstrated by the American Academy of Pediatrics v. Clovis Unified School District case in California.

Members Only: Undocumented Students & In-State Tuition, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Tinker-Ing With Speech Categories: Solving The Off-Campus Student Speech Problem With A Categorical Approach And A Comprehensive Framework, Scott Dranoff

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Accounting For School Vouchers, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Closing The Schoolhouse Doors: State Efforts To Limit K-12 Education For Unauthorized Migrant School Children, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Dreams Deferred: Deferred Action, Prosecutorial Discretion, And The Vexing Case(S) Of Dream Act Students, Michael A. Olivas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Parental Choice Fallacy In Education Reform Debates, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

Some tout parental school choice as a strategy for promoting, among other school-related goods, educational innovation. This Article offers clarifying and skeptical thoughts about that position. It first explains what “educational innovation” and “parental choice” mean. It then considers what limitations on this strategy might arise from existing legal regulations, from market forces, or from ethical obligations to children. Finally, the Article explains why parental choice is also unlikely to improve education for the children most in need of a better academic environment and suggests an alternative approach to student reassignment that is much more likely to do so.

Recovering Subsidiarity In Family Life Education, Karen Jordan

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

This article provides a rigorous analysis of the legitimacy of continuing to rely on and promote school-based family life education, as a way of addressing concerns associated with sexual activity by adolescents. The issue is crucial because empirical evidence strongly suggests that a school-based approach, regardless of curricular content, has failed. For reasons grounded in law and policy, this article advocates that states should retreat from school-based family life education and, instead, recover the insights of the philosophical principle of subsidiarity. Recovering subsidiarity means fully respecting and giving effect to the parental right and duty to educate children in matters …

Empowering Special Education Clients Through Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Lessons Learned For Current Clients And Future Professionals, Patricia E. Roberts, Kelly Whalon

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unlocking The Power Of State Constitutions With Equal Protection: The First Step Toward Education As A Federally Protected Right, Derek W. Black

William & Mary Law Review

This Article analyzes the intersection of state constitutional law right at stake and the responsibility for enforcing it. Thus, the scrutiny of this right under federal equal protection would be far different than it was just a few decades ago. Given the states’ weakened ability to enforce these rights, the future of education equity depends on federal intervention. with federal equal protection, revealing how federal equal protection, by relying on state constitutional education standards, can force states to further equalize and increase the resources available to struggling schools. It begins by exploring the extent of inequality and inadequacy in our …