Calls for increasing the severity of punishment ignore the nonschool origins of discipline problems and fail to consider the role of the schools themselves as a contributing factor to the problems. (Author/IRT)

School personnel need to learn about the outcomes of controversial education cases. Research on school law knowledge indicates that teachers and students would benefit from learning the basic principles of school law. (six references) (MLF)

Investigates the expansion of student due process rights and the discipline issues resolved by the United States Supreme Court. Considers lower court interpretations of these decisions and issues currently being raised. Suggests that legal cases which have nothing to do with discipline have affected the way school personnel view discipline.…

This chapter focuses on 1981 cases involving students. The author notes that litigation involving pupils occurred with greater frequency in the areas of handicapped students, student testing, and church-state separation. The most important cases involving students concerned circuit courts of appeal decisions in the handicapped and testing areas.…

This handbook summarizes current legal doctrine, state statutes, and federal and state regulations regarding the treatment of public school pupils in Wisconsin. It reports on court decisions that are binding in Wisconsin and those from other courts around the country that illustrate how pupil issues have been handled in other jurisdictions. After…

This chapter reviews 1982 cases involving pupils. Such cases increased one-third in 1982, with much of the increase attributable to litigation concerning the rights of handicapped students. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case defining the congressional mandate of an "appropriate education" for such students may help reduce the controversy in…

This paper examines what is known about the link between court decisions and changing school discipline practices; proposes a variety of studies to add to knowledge in this area; and contains suggestions on ways that research findings can be used to improve the ongoing legal education of school personnel. The complex nature of some of the Supreme…

This third chapter of "The Yearbook of School Law, 1986" summarizes and analyzes state and federal court decisions handed down in 1985 affecting the legal rights of students in elementary and secondary schools. Among the topics examined are public school pupil assignment, tuition, transportation, compulsory attendance, and bilingual and bicultural…