Education Law Commons^™

Achieving Equity And Excellence In Kentucky Education, C. Scott Trimble, Andrew C. Forsaith

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, Trimble and Forsaith discuss the landmark Kentucky school finance case, Rose v. Council for Better Education, 790 S.W.2d 186 (Ky. 1989), and the school reform efforts it spawned. In Council for Better Education, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the state had failed its duty under the state constitution to provide all students with an adequate education, which it defined in terms of seven categories of knowledge and skills students should acquire. The State General Assembly responded with the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which significantly boosted state funding as well as established an ambitious accountability system …

Oklahoma School Finance Litigation: Shifting From Equity To Adequacy, Mark S. Grossman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article traces the history of Oklahoma school finance litigation from the initial challenge based on funding inequity to a recent lawsuit founded on alleged constitutional inadequacies in the state system. Although the legal challenge based on funding inequity was unsuccessful in the courts, the pendency of the suit helped push the state legislature toward some reforms. The threat of a new lawsuit based on alleged inadequacies in the state school system, together with a serious funding shortfall, propelled a comprehensive education reform plan through the state legislature in 1990. The association of local school boards that led the equity …

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: A Parent's Perspective And Proposal For Change, Martin A. Kotler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

For two years, beginning in the fall of 1991, I was involved in an ongoing legal battle with the Delaware County, Pennsylvania Intermediate Unit No. 25 regarding the "appropriateness" of preschool programming for my son. To a large degree, the following Article has its origin in that battle.

Nevertheless, the point of this Article is neither to get even for wrongs, real or imagined, nor to utilize these pages to supplement the already extensive briefs and formal arguments made in that case. Rather, I believe that my position as a law professor, lawyer, litigant, and parent of a disabled child …

Equity In Public Education: School-Finance Reform In Michigan, William S. Koski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that the only adequate compromise between the pressure to limit taxes and the need to provide both educational quality and equity is to institute a form of full-state funded education. Part I of this Note briefly defines equity in public education and discusses the importance of increasing equity. Part II discusses other values and concerns that arise in the school-finance debate, such as liberty, local control, efficiency, and quality of education. Part III considers several fundamental school-finance alternatives. Part IV provides a historical overview of Michigan school finance reform and a description of the current State School …

Michigan's Teacher Certification Requirement As Applied To Religiously Motivated Home Schools, Donald D. Dorman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note defends the thesis that the teacher-certification requirement of Michigan's compulsory attendance statute is unconstitutional as applied to people who, for sincere religious reasons, believe they must teach their children at home. Michigan courts have incorrectly applied a rational-basis test in regulating religiously motivated home schools, rather than the strict scrutiny required by the U.S. Supreme Court for cases involving both the free exercise of religion and parents' interest in directing their children's education.

Fair Use And University Photocopying: Addison-Wesley Publishing V. New York University, Eric D. Brandfonbrener

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note describes copyright law as it applies to university photocopy users, including an examination of the relevant legislative histories. Part II addresses the case law on university photocopying, both prior to and following the adoption of the Act. Part III briefly discusses the policies underlying university photocopying. The Note concludes with an analysis of the NYU settlement in relation to copyright law.

School Metal Detector Searches And The Fourth Amendment: An Empirical Study, Myrna G. Baskin, Laura M. Thomas

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note is an empirical study of the weapons searches in the Detroit public schools. Part I traces the history of the Detroit public school searches describes how the searches were conducted, and explains the procedure implemented when a student was arrested or detained. Part II addresses the constitutionality of the search policy and concludes that the current sweep procedure violates the fourth amendment. Part III suggests a number of constitutional, and more effective, methods to decrease the number of weapons and the amount of violence in the Detroit high schools.

Protecting The Free Speech Rights Of Insurgent Teachers' Unions: Evaluating The Constitutionality Of Exclusive Access To School Communications Facilities, Stephen E. Woodbury

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I examines the traditional and limited public forum doctrines designed to guarantee speakers a right of access to public places, and finds these theories inadequate in the school union setting. Part II explores a recent addition to the free speech/equal protection analysis: the content neutrality doctrine. This doctrine mandates that when a school board allows one union to express its viewpoints, a duty is created to provide equivalent access to all unions, absent a compelling state interest. Part III reviews several justifications for limiting non-EBA access, and finds most of them without merit and none of them adequate to …

Teaching The Theories Of Evolution And Scientific Creationism In The Public Schools: The First Amendment Religion Clauses And Permissible Relief, J. Greg Whitehair

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note explores the propriety of teaching the theory of evolution and the scientific creation model in public elementary and secondary schools. Part I discusses the powers of the state and its political subdivisions to set public school policy and curriculum content and the extent to which those powers are circumscribed by the religion clauses of the first amendment. Part I concludes that the religion clauses permit the teaching of evolutionary theory in public schools. Part II examines the variety of judicial and legislative relief potentially available to creationists where the teaching of evolution theory interferes with their religious beliefs …

Postsecondary And Vocational Education Programs And The "Otherwise Qualified" Provision Of Section 504 Of The Rehabilitation Act Of 1973, Marc P. Charmatz, Andrew S. Penn

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

While the Rehabilitation Act defines a "handicapped individual,'' neither the language of section 504 nor its legislative history sheds much light on the exact meaning of the term ''otherwise qualified handicapped individual.'' This article will argue that the definition of this term must be broad enough to include severely handicapped persons, the primary group that Congress intended to benefit and protect in enacting section 504. Focussing on the area of postsecondary education, this article will argue that the interpretation developed in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Regulation most effectively fulfills the purposes which Congress intended in enacting …

Legislative Notes: The Education Of All Handicapped Children Act Of 1975, Donald W. Keim

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I reviews the landmark judicial decisions which have established the right of handicapped children to participate in free, public education. The basic provisions of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 are then presented in Part II. The funding provisions are discussed in Part III with particular emphasis upon the tension between the promise of federal largesse and the expense of compliance with statutory and judicial requirements. Part IV reviews prior efforts to obtain judicial recognition of a substantive right to an appropriate education and suggests some ways in which the 1975 Act may alter the framework …

Impasse Resolution Mechanisms And Teacher Strikes, Diane L. Kaye

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Public school teachers have no right to strike under Michigan law, but the power to strike exists. Michigan residents witnessed forty teacher strikes in the autumn of 1973 alone. Among them was the forty-four-day strike by Detroit teachers. The strikes during the past fall were not an unfortunate aberration. Ninety percent of the strikes in Michigan are by school teachers. In the public education context, the threat of a strike no longer brings negotiating parties together. A new mechanism for resolution of deadlocks in teacher-school board contract disputes is needed. This article describes the problem, outlines impasse resolution procedures presently …

Education At A Discount: Qualifying For Resident Tuition At State Universities, Barry D. Glazer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

One recurring problem is the reclassification of those students initially classified as nonresidents who have thereafter decided to become residents of the state and thereby seek to take advantage of the lower tuition offered to residents. This article identifies the major difficulties in changing classification and analyzes some of the constitutional questions concerning the application of the nonresident tuition fee subsequent to Starns. Additionally, the article examines the extent to which proposed model legislation on tuition residency solves the existing objections to the application of the nonresident tuition fee at state universities.

Campus Pamphleteering: The Emerging Constitutional Standards, Morton M. Rosenfeld

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Beginning with Lovell v. City of Griffin, the Supreme Court has consistently held the distribution of handbills to be a fundamental right under the first amendment. Since Lovell, the Court has liberally construed the concept of a public forum where first amendment rights can be properly exercised. More recently, the Court has held that schools cannot arbitrarily or absolutely regulate students' constitutional rights of expression. These three principles would suggest great protection for handbilling rights on state university campuses. A further analysis of case law indicates that broad free speech standards governing such rights exist and that the …

Restrictions On Student Voting: An Unconstitutional Anachronism?, W. Perry Bullard, James A. Rice

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Using Michigan as a vehicle for analysis because it has a student voting process representative of many states, this note seeks to accomplish four purposes: (1) an examination of the case law often underlying the presumption against student registrability; (2) an analysis of recent constitutional developments in the due process and equal protection areas as they relate to the particular problems posed by the student voter; (3) a survey of the competing local and student interests in the student vote issue; and (4) a conclusion regarding the likelihood that thwarted student voters can follow the paths of other disfranchised groups …

New York City School Decentralization, Barry D. Hovis

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The 1969 New York Education Act grew out of a movement demanding decentralization of the New York City school system. The ultimate goals of this movement were to: (1) encourage community awareness and participation in the development of educational policy, and (2) create sufficient flexibility in the school system to enable administrators to resolve the diverse needs of the varying communities within the city. Support for the plan arose out of more than a decade of dissatisfaction with the centralized system by educators, school administrators, and parents. Supporters of decentralization had pointed in particular to the failure of the centralized …