Describes a Circuit Court of Appeals case concerning a middle school principal who was unfairly fired after making a controversial speech on inadequate school finances. Describes a search and seizure case involving a student's possession of a gun and drugs on campus. Urges school boards to know the law before taking action. (MLH)

Cases arguing about the use of school facilities by religious groups continued to increase in number in 1990; however cases involving home instruction and student searches declined. In the school desegregation section, the financing of desegregation plans occupied the attention in most cases. Increasingly, desegregation cases focus less on…

Court decisions in 1988 expanded the power of school boards to set policies regarding the operation of the public schools. Cases are discussed under the following sections: (1) public school assignment, tuition, transportation, home instruction, and compulsory attendance; (2) private and parochial schools; (3) substantive rights of students,…

The sharp increase in the number of cases that involve school antidrug policies continued in 1987. Courts continued to support school policies that contain an automatic suspension or expulsion penalty for school drug possession. First Amendment religious cases also continued to increase in number. A new grouping of cases under the heading…

The legal status of college students in relationship to the institution they attend is discussed, focusing on the contractual relationship, due process, access to education, First Amendment rights, search and seizure, federal aid regulation, residency requirements for voting, and the doctrine of academic abstention in legal matters. (MSE)