Education Law Commons^™

Battlegrounds For Banned Books: The First Amendment And Public School Libraries, Jensen Rehn

Notre Dame Law Review

Embedded in each conversation about banning books are arguments that use legal terminology. A brief conversation about banned books with a librarian will likely lead to a discussion of the “Library Bill of Rights” published by the ALA. No one is bound by the ALA’s Bill of Rights, which lacks a method of enforcement. Thus, the question remains: what is the legal landscape of banning books? Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has not provided a clear precedent about banning books from public school libraries. In fact, the Supreme Court has only taken cases about libraries on three occasions, each of which …

Resolving Regulatory Threats To Tenure, Joseph W. Yockey

University of Richmond Law Review

Many lawmakers and public university governing boards are looking to curb faculty tenure. Driven by both ideological and economic motives, recent efforts range from eliminating tenure systems altogether to interfering when schools seek to tenure individual, often controversial scholars. These actions raise serious questions about higher education law and policy and have important implications for the future of academic freedom. Indeed, if they gain further traction, current regulatory threats to tenure will jeopardize the ability of American universities to remain at the forefront of global research and intellectual progress.

This Article examines the growing anti-tenure sentiment among state officials and …

Cultural Humility And Cultural Brokering In Professional Training: Insights From People Of Color (Poc) And Persons With Disabilities (Pwd), Victoria Filingeri, Heather M. Mendez, Alisa Ssu Yu Lin, Gyasi Burks-Abbott, Amy Szarkowski, Jason Fogler

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This conceptual paper reflects the collaborative work of LEND trainees and faculty exploring the need to shift from “cultural competencies” to “cultural humility” in training programs. The authors draw on their lived experiences as members of racially/ethnically marginalized groups, members of the disability community, and advocates for equity in accessibility. Collectively, the authors highlight some of the challenges and opportunities in supporting diverse trainees in professional- and discipline-specific training programs. and in the provision of services the trainees provide to care-recipients across a variety of fields. This paper includes a series of case vignettes in order to: examine individual authors’ …

Inherently Unequal: The Effect Of Structural Racism And Bias On K-12 School Discipline, Alicia R. Jackson

Brooklyn Law Review

Structural racism is deeply rooted in our nation's history and often manifests as discrimination and inequality in critical facets of life in the United States, including education. This Article explores the impact of structural racism and bias on discipline in the K-12 public school setting. Discriminatory bias-based decision-making and school discipline policies have led to the disproportionate punishment of Black children, causing them to be excluded from classroom learning and creating a separate and unequal education structure. US Department of Education data shows that Black K-12 students are 3.8 times as likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions as …

Impartial Hearings Under The Idea: Updated Legal Issues And Answers, Perry A. Zirkel

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This updated question-and-answer document is specific to impartial hearing officers (IHOs) and the hearings that they conduct under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The coverage does not extend to the alternate third-party dispute decisional mechanism under the IDEA, the complaint resolution process (CRP) except to the extent that this alternative mechanism intersects with IHO issues. Similarly, the scope only extends secondarily to the IHO’s remedial authority, which is the subject of separate comprehensive coverage. The sources are largely limited to the pertinent IDEA legislation and regulations, court decisions, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education’s …

Policies Regulating Gender In Schools: Companion To Identity By Committee (2022), Scott Skinner-Thompson

Research Data

This document, Policies Regulating Gender in Schools: Companion to Identity by Committee (2022), https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K6iUkLnmDfaSVykyRaZ3Yqt7XNM9leGO-MQA6p2VbV4/edit?usp=Sharing, was published as an electronic supplement to the article, Scott Skinner-Thompson, Identity by Committee, 57 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 657 (2022), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/1586.

The Intersection Of Academic Freedom And Trigger Warnings, Ashleigh Maldonado

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

The purpose of this policy brief is to explore the intersection of academic freedom and trigger warnings. The author argues that the vague language within academic freedom policies and the blurred lines between judicial jurisdiction over first amendment rights and institutional jurisdiction over academic freedom policies sets the stage for future limitations on teachers’ rights within the classroom. Te author also argues that while much attention is given to the academic freedoms of instructors, more attention should be afforded to the academic freedoms of students when considering their requests for trigger warnings.

A Review Of The 2021/22 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is the eighth1 annual review of Singapore’s performance in international moot court competitions.2 An overview of the results for this season is presented at Table #1 below, while Tables #2 and #3 provide a snapshot of the results of the past 10 seasons. Despite the substantial lifting of travel restrictions throughout the world, the 2021/22 international moots season remained a virtually conducted one for many competitions, though competitions such as IP, Stetson, PAX, and WTO saw a much-welcomed return to in-person hearings, allowing students to compete and interact with teams and judges from around the world at places such …

P*Law 2023, Center For Public Service Law

2022–2023 Flyers

This document provides the complete schedule for P*LAW Week 2023 at Cardozo School of Law, organized by the Center for Public Service Law. Held from January 23 to January 26, the week featured panels, workshops, and interactive events addressing pressing issues in public interest law. Topics included judicial independence, disability rights, reproductive justice, climate legislation, student mental health, comprehensive sexual education, and qualified immunity. Events also offered students career support through the PILC Fair prep session and Mentor Mock Interviews, fostering professional growth and public service engagement.

At A Glance: Defining Missouri’S Homeschooling Regulations, Christine Hall

SLU Law Journal Online

American parents have a right to homeschool their children, and it is only growing in popularity. Each state has the power to regulate homeschooling, and some do not regulate it at all. In this article, Christine Hall analyzes the practical application of Missouri's homeschooling statute and argues for a change in these regulations.

When Claims Collide: Students For Fair Admissions V. Harvard And The Meaning Of Discrimination, Cara Mcclellan

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This term, the Supreme Court will decide Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA v. Harvard), a challenge to Harvard College’s race-conscious admissions program. While litigation challenging the use of race in higher education admissions spans over five decades, previous attacks on race-conscious admissions systems were brought by white plaintiffs alleging “reverse discrimination” based on the theory that a university discriminated against them by assigning a plus factor to underrepresented minority applicants. SFFA v. Harvard is distinct from these cases because the plaintiff organization, SFFA, brought a claim alleg-ing that Harvard engages in intentional discrimination …

Meals For All, Not Just The Cake Eaters: A Call For Universal School Lunch In Minnesota As A Step Towards Racial Equity, Anna Cousin

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Families, Schools, And Religious Freedom, Helen M. Alvaré

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Old and New Testament scriptures persistently point to human beings’ romantic and familial relationships according to Christian norms as means of glimpsing foundational religious beliefs about God’s identity, how God loves human beings, and how human beings are to love Him and one another. Christian families, therefore, are alarmed to witness public schools educating minors using normative materials directly opposing Christian norms, and doing so outside of courses subject to parental opt-ins or opt- outs. The Supreme Court has not weighed in on the precise question of parental rights respecting particular educational content of this type, but lower federal courts …

Why School Choice Is Necessary For Religious Liberty And Freedom Of Belief, Richard F. Duncan

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

The government school monopoly for funding K–12 education creates a coercive system that commandeers a captive audience of impressionable children for inculcation in secular ideas, beliefs, and values concerning matters of truth, moral character, culture, and the good life. The brutal bargain imposed on parents by this monopoly requires them to choose between the single largest benefit most families receive from state and local governments and educating their children in a curriculum that is consistent with the preferred educative speech of the parents. To choose the latter is to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax-funded support for K–12 …

Rodriguez At Fifty: Lessons Learned On The Road To A Right To A High-Quality Education For All Students, Kimberly Jenkins Robinson

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

And On The Third Wave: Using Intersectionality To Resurrect Heightened Scrutiny In Public Education Litigation, Chris Chambers Goodman

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This Symposium marks the fiftieth anniversary of San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, and seeks to address how society could have been different if the Supreme Court had recognized education as a fundamental right. It also considers how the lack of a fundamental right to education may have led to the under-education of our population and may be linked to other issues like economic inequality and the shifting landscape of fundamental rights.

This Article focuses on the ties between race and socioeconomic status in public school K–12 education. It analyzes the impact of the Rodriguez holding that education …

A Law & Macroeconomics Critique Of San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez, Steven A. Ramirez

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court decided, in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, to permit states to provide dramatically disparate funding for childhood education from district to district, thereby concretizing and propagating racial and economic inequality indefinitely. This Article shows that this decision entails staggering macroeconomic costs, undermines human development in the United States, and has hindered the government from promoting general welfare, domestic tranquility, and common defense. The opinion pursued the political objectives of the Southern Strategy and does not rest upon a legitimate exercise of judicial power. Rodriguez furthers the replication of our nation’s racial …

Perez V. Sturgis Public Schools, Adriana A. Snedaker

Tennessee Law Review

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act' ("IDEA") is a law that requires all students with disabilities to be provided with a free and appropriate education. 2 More specifically, IDEA "governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to" disabled youth. 3 However, the remedies available under IDEA are limited. Common remedies for violations of IDEA include tuition reimbursement, compensatory education, and attorney's fees. 4 Because monetary compensation is not available under IDEA, disabled students often have to bring a claim under other federal statutes, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") in order …

Critical Race Theory And Florida Schools: An Attempt To Suppress Racism Embedded Within American History

Florida A & M University Law Review

“Our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among its citizens.” Imagine that a public school student learns that the curriculum taught at their school about their culture and its history has just been banned. Further, they discover that the reasoning for the removal is the belief that the curriculum promotes reverse racism. Imagine this happening only to classes related to their culture and background, but similar courses teaching the history and experiences of other cultures remain untouched, unbanned, and unaddressed. History is the story of the past and tells us where we are, where we come from, …

Square-Peg Frauds, Miriam Baer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A "Mere Shadow" Of A Conflict: Obscuring The Establishment Clause In Kennedy V. Bremerton, Ann L. Schiavone

Duquesne Law Review

In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District,¹ the Roberts Court continued its move to carve out larger spaces for religious practice and expression in public spheres.² But in so doing it left lower courts and school districts with many more questions than answers concerning what the Establishment Clause means and what it requires of them. Can school districts still protect students from religious coercion by teachers, classmates, and others? Are entanglements between church and state or the appearance of endorsement no longer problematic?³ Should the individual history and tradition of schools and communities influence decision making on …

Analysis Of Carson V. Makin, Wilson Huhn

Duquesne Law Review

Many school districts in the State of Maine lack high schools, so the children in those districts must attend another school selected by their parents.¹ In 1873 the State of Maine enacted a tuition assistance program, called "town tuitioning," that offers a stipend to participating schools to partially defray the cost of educating children from districts that lack a high school.² In 1981 the State of Maine enacted a law that categorically excludes "sectarian schools" from participating in the tuition assistance program.³ The Maine Department of Education defines a "sectarian school" as a school that is both …

Talk Should Be Cheap: The Supreme Court Has Spoken On Compelled Fees, But Universities Are Not Listening, Falco Anthony Muscante Ii

Duquesne Law Review

Taking money from a person to support political and ideological projects with which that person disagrees is, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "sinful and tyrannical." Public universities are meddling with sin and tyranny by compelling some students to pay mandatory student activity fees in support of political and ideological activities with which those students disagree. This Article provides separate legal and historical backgrounds for both public union dues and fees and the more-recent public university student activity fees to ultimately propose a constitutional system congruent with Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, and its impact on Board of Regents …

Disability Misappropriation, Ruth Colker

American University Law Review

This Article argues that disability misappropriation is a systemic problem that undermines movement toward disability justice. By disability misappropriation, this Article refers to the tendency of the political right to assert a false concern for disability issues in service of a political agenda that actually harms the disability community. This tactic has influenced the adverse treatment of disabled people in the educational, institutional, and reproductive arenas. From birth to death, it has often had an adverse influence on the lives of disabled people as they receive inadequate and coercive health care, poor education, and limited housing options. While federal law …

When Congress Passes The Buck: How Russia’S Invasion Of Ukraine Exposed Flaws In Granting The President Sanctioning Powers, Artem M. Joukov, Samantha M. Caspar

Seattle University Law Review

The United States (U.S.) Constitution provides few limitations on endowing the Executive Branch with powers to govern foreign trade, which was initially granted to the Legislature. In a world where global trade dominates, the power over foreign trade can be more important than the power over domestic matters. Leaving unrestrained trade authority to the Executive Branch may cause hazards for Americans and foreigners alike. Russia’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the flaws in permitting the Executive Branch to unilaterally sanction foreign states. This Article demonstrates how reactive Executive Branch policies infringed on the welfare and safety of American citizens and foreigners …

Pedaling Backwards: Examining The King County Board Of Health’S Choice To Repeal Its Bicycle Helmet Law, Schuyler M. Peters

Seattle University Law Review

In Part I, this Comment will explain the Helmet Law itself and the timeline that ultimately led to its repeal. Part II will focus on the positive impact of the Helmet Law, the dangers associated with the repeal, why the repeal should not have occurred in the manner it did, and what societal costs stem from the BOH’s decision. Part III will address the actions that must be taken to revoke this repeal and the reasons behind these alternative pathways, including an Equity Impact Review study specifically on the consequences of repeal, a collaborative outreach program to bring helmets to …

Second Chance Pell Experiment: How The United States Is Starting To Recognize Education As A Right, Brittany Walker

Human Rights Brief

For decades, education as a right has been an issue between U.S. citizens and U.S. courts. U.S. courts maintain that education is not a right, as it was not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution. Since the U.S. Constitution is silent about education, U.S. courts have applied the 14th Amendment to defer educational matters, such as compulsory school requirements, to each state. Currently, education in the United States is generally a right until middle school. After middle school, the American government allows parents and students to determine whether additional education is necessary in their situation. This view causes disparities for …

Revisiting The Disability Integration Presumption, Chris Yarrell

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA) predecessor established a legal presumption in favor of educating all students with disabilities in an integrated, “least restrictive environment” (LRE) to the “maximum extent appropriate.” Yet, the precise meaning of this statutory presumption remains unsettled, which has led to mounting special education disputes in federal court. This Article addresses a less developed area of IDEA litigation: namely, how federal courts should interpret this statutory presumption in light of the disproportionate placement of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in separate settings.

Whether students with the most significant cognitive disabilities sacrifice their right …

The Campus Battle Over Expression And Equality: Combatting Discrimination By Restricting Freedom?, Faisal Bhabha

Articles & Book Chapters

Given that the purpose of post-secondary education is to advance knowledge, academic life requires protection from unreasonable interference arising from institutional policies or public pressure. This paper argues that, in the interests of providing a safe and inclusive learning environment, universities have run the risk of unduly restricting debate and the exchange of ideas through unwarranted applications of anti-discrimination norms on campus. Based on a detailed review of the jurisprudence, the author contends that human rights legislation imposes no requirement, and provides little authority, for constraining thought or speech in higher education. Indeed, the threats to freedom of expression on …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents