Education Law Commons^™

The Contemporary Significance Of Meyer And Pierce For Parental Rights Issues Involving Education, William G. Ross

Akron Law Review

Despite their ringing declarations about human rights, Meyer and Pierce were both formally decided largely on the basis of property rights -- the liberty of the schools to conduct a business, the right of private school teachers to follow their occupation, and the freedom of the schools and the parents to enter into contracts. Although the Court easily could have decided the cases on the bases of freedom of religion or freedom of speech, the Court had not yet incorporated any part of the Bill of Rights into state law, and it was not prepared to begin the process of …

Free At Last? Charter Schools And The "Deregulated" Curriculum, Molly O'Brien

Akron Law Review

This paper will explore the prospects for charter school reform to provide curricular innovation and will point out several provisions in the legal organization of charter schools that will limit the possibilities for major innovation or radical reform of the official curriculum. This paper will also take stock of the autocratic and bureaucratic nature of the current public school model and weigh the possibility for charter schools to transform schools into places that embody democratic and community values. Charter schooling presents an exciting opportunity for school reform that rejects the factory model of public schooling and establishes both an official …

Sorting And Reforming: High-Stakes Testing In The Public Schools, Rachel F. Moran

Akron Law Review

As with “Millionaire,” these practices are widely accepted, roundly applauded, but nevertheless quite controversial. In this article, I will first examine the historical origins of high-stakes testing. Next, I will describe the growing interest in these tests in elementary and secondary schools as well as the tensions that have resulted. Then, I will explore the most significant challenges to the use of high-stakes testing as a requirement for graduation or promotion to another grade. This article will close by contemplating the likely future of the movement for testing and accountability.

Equal Protection Challenges To The Use Of Racial Classifications To Promote Integrated Public Elementary And Secondary Student Enrollments, Kevin Brown

Akron Law Review

This essay is entitled Equal Protection Challenges to the Use of Racial Classifications to Promote Integrated Public Elementary and Secondary Student Enrollments. I delivered this essay as a speech in Akron, Ohio, at a conference titled “Education and the Constitution: Shaping Each Other and the Next Century” in March of 2000. The topic of this essay is particularly relevant for a conference with this title because it addresses one of the most significant issues in race and public education since the Supreme Court started America on the path of desegregation. Discussion of this topic in Akron, Ohio, is also particularly …

Preliminary Thoughts On The Virtues Of Passive Dialogue, Michael Heise

Akron Law Review

The judicial, legislative, and executive branches interact in many ways. These interactions fuel a constitutional dialogue that serves as a backdrop to myriad governmental activities, both large and small. Although this on-going dialogue takes numerous forms and its quality varies, its existence is one sign of a functioning democracy. The judiciary’s participation in the nation’s constitutional dialogue is necessary, desirable, and, as an empirical matter, inevitable. The judiciary’s participation raises important normative issues as well. This article analyzes two competing models that bear on the normative question: what form should the judiciary’s participation take?

Education And The Constitution: Shaping Each Other & The Next Century, Elizabeth Reilly

Akron Law Review

In evaluating patients’ potential legal remedies, this Comment explores 1) the emergence of managed care organizations in the United States; 2) the creation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) and how it impacts patients’ claims against their MCOs; 3) the question of “quantity” versus “quality” in evaluating whether ERISA preemption exists; 4) three theories (direct liability, breach of fiduciary duty, and vicarious liability) used to hold MCOs liable for injuries resulting from malpractice or the wrongful denial of benefits; 5) state legislative attempts to circumvent ERISA’s inequitable preemption of claims; and 6) why, given ERISA’s failure …

The End Of An Era: The Mounting Challenges To The Ncaa’S Model Of Amateurism, John Niemeyer

Pepperdine Law Review

In the six years between 2006 and 2012, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a nonprofit organization made up of universities, doubled its net assets to its current, unprecedented level of over $566 million. In 2012 alone, the organization retained a $71 million surplus after it disbursed a majority of its revenue to the NCAA member universities. It was able to make this much money largely because of the television revenue earned from the highly popular and entertaining sports of men’s football and men’s basketball. One would think that if a nonprofit organization could retain $71 million at the end …

Keynote Remarks: Re-Tooling Law And Legal Education For Food System Reform: Food Law And Policy In Practice, Emily M. Broad Leib

Seattle University Law Review

Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today and to take part in this symposium on the important role law schools and lawyers can play in changing our food system. Food preferences and food choices are incredibly personal, but the way we produce and consume food, and its impacts on our environment, public health, and the safety of ourselves and others, make it a pressing societal issue as well.

Public School Funding And Mccleary V. State Of Washington—A Violation Of The Separation Of Powers Doctrine Or A Legitimate Exercise Of Judicial Autonomy?, Jessica R. Burns

Seattle University Law Review

Public school funding has been contentiously litigated throughout the United States, and the Washington Supreme Court has addressed the inadequacy of public school funding in two pivotal cases: Seattle School District No. 1 v. State and McCleary v. State. In both decisions, the Washington Supreme Court held that the State failed to provide an adequate basic education for its public school students; however, in its attempt to remedy the situation, the court took drastically different approaches.

The Akron Law School: The Early History Of The University Of Akron School Of Law: 1921-1959, Margaret E. Matejkovic, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Review

This short sketch is designed to tell the history of the school with special attention to those aspects which will preserve its rich history and help its faculty, students, and alumni understand its traditions and mission. What follows is a history of the school from its founding in 1921 until its merger with The University of Akron in 1959. An online inventory lists all the graduates during that time period along with as much biographical data as we were able to find. The vignettes in the materials below are based upon the individuals for whom we could find data. We …

Law Schools And The Legal Profession: A Way Forward, Peter A. Joy

Akron Law Review

This essay proceeds in four parts. Part II briefly examines the disengagement of law schools from the legal profession both in much of the scholarship produced and through courses required for graduation. Part III analyzes why some state bar regulators are imposing admission requirements in response to law schools failing to prepare students better for the practice of law. Part IV discusses the types of bar admission requirements being considered. Finally, in Part V, I argue that rather than being reactive and resistant to change, law schools should be forward looking and incorporate changes that will not only better prepare …

Ferguson, The Rebellious Law Professor, And The Neoliberal University, Harold A. Mcdougall Iii

School of Law Faculty Publications

Neoliberalism, a business-oriented ideology promoting corporatism, profit-seeking, and elite management, has found its way into the modern American university. As neoliberal ideology envelops university campuses, the idea of law professors as learned academicians and advisors to students as citizens in training, has given way to the concept of professors as brokers of marketable skills with students as consumers. In a legal setting, this concept pushes law students to view their education not as a means to contribute to society and the professional field, but rather as a means to make money. These developments are especially problematic for minority students and …

School Bullying Litigation: An Empirical Analysis Of The Case Law, Diane M. Holben, Perry A. Zirkel

Akron Law Review

This study will analyze the case law specific to bullying in the public school context during a recent twenty-year period. More specifically, its scope will include the frequency and the outcomes of the liability and “free and appropriate public education” (“FAPE”) claims on a longitudinal basis. Part I of the article provides the context in terms of (a) the definition of bullying, and (b) the literature concerning the rate and effects of bullying as well as the extent of anti-bullying policies and practices at the school district and state levels. Part II provides the methodological information, including the scope of …

Protecting Diversity In The Ivory Tower With Liability Rules, Ting Wang

Pace Law Review

The two sides of the debate over race-based affirmative action in higher education tell two distinct stories – one of diversity’s benefits and the other of affirmative action’s burdens. In Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), the Supreme Court found the benefits to be so compelling to society that they were deemed to outweigh the burdens. Voters in Michigan and other states found otherwise and the Court in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 572 U.S. — (2014) upheld their right to ban race-conscious admissions. Paradoxically, since the use of race as a “plus factor” by selective universities …

Transportation For Students With Disabilities, Charles J. Russo, Allan G. Osborne Jr.

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Transportation and other related services for students with disabilities are essential, and the costs associated with their delivery can weigh heavily on district budgets and the minds of school business officials.

School districts typically offer transportation to students with disabilities in district-owned and -operated vehicles, in vehicles owned and operated by private service providers, or via public transportation; occasionally, districts may enter into contracts with parents to transport their children to school. When students are unable to access the standard modes of transportation, school officials must make special transportation arrangements. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulations, …

Rethinking Special Education's "Least Restrictive Environment" Requirement, Cari Carson

Michigan Law Review

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act promotes the education of students with disabilities together with their nondisabled peers, requiring education in the “least restrictive environment” (“LRE”). This requirement has long been subject to competing interpretations. This Note contends that the dominant interpretation—requiring education in the least restrictive environment available—is deficient and allows students to be placed in unnecessarily restrictive settings. Drawing from child mental health law, this Note proposes an alternative LRE approach that requires education in the least restrictive environment needed and argues that this alternative approach is a better reading of the law.

Bills, Bills, Bills: The Effect Of A Rejected Settlement On Attorney's Fees Under The Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act Of 1976, Melissa Ibrahim

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal And Ethical Considerations For Social Media Hiring Practices In The Workplace, Andrew S. Hazelton, Ashley Terhorst

The Hilltop Review

Social media has certainly evolved and continues to do so with each new day. Social media in its infancy was not as widespread in the personal lives of people, let alone in the workplace. In the following years since its inception, social media has captured a significant amount of time of individuals in every aspect of their lives. However, with this advancement also comes possible conflict in how companies and departments within a university or college setting conduct background checks. Social media makes public profiles an easy click away and many potential job seekers may not see the problems that …

What Are We Making A Federal Case Of? An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of Education And The Right To Privacy In The Classroom, Ronnie Jane Lamm

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tinkering With Success: College Athletes, Social Media And The First Amendment, Mary Margaret Meg Penrose

Pace Law Review

Good law does not always make good policy. This article seeks to provide a legal assessment, not a policy directive. The policy choices made by individual institutions and athletic departments should be guided by law, but absolutely left to institutional discretion. Many articles written on college student-athletes’ social media usage attempt to urge policy directives clothed in constitutional analysis.

In this author’s opinion, these articles have lost perspective – constitutional perspective. This article seeks primarily to provide a legal and constitutional assessment so that schools and their athletic departments will have ample information to then make their own policy choices.