By law and example, school boards must govern within scope of Bill of Rights. Cites West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette, in which Supreme Court in 1943 upheld two Jehovah's Witness children's right to refuse to participate in daily flag salute ceremony. Urges schools to teach students principles of democracy and also of individual…

A federal case from Wooster, Ohio, illustrates the tension facing school boards and administrators when they deal with student expression. Explains the judge's reasoning about the issues involving First Amendment rights of student editors and the policies and relevant free-speech principles. (MLF)

The rights and responsibilities of boards of education in restricting the availability of certain materials through school libraries are considered in this report. The document first treats the relationship between the demands of the First Amendment and parents' expectations regarding the appropriateness of certain materials for their children.…

Americans traditionally have looked to the public schools to play a role in transmitting society's values to students, and on various occasions the U.S. Supreme Court has emphasized the role of the nation's schools in inculcating basic values. For many years Maine has had a statute mandating the teaching of virtue and morality and another that…

Describes increasing attempts to censor school libraries, how teachers' groups and the courts have reacted to this censorship, and what schools can do. (JM)

Discusses a Kansas court case that addressed First Amendment rights of students when a book was banned from a school library. Topics include motivation of school board members, students' rights to information versus denial of access to ideas, viewpoint discrimination, and educational suitability. A sidebar presents viewpoints of the book's author.…

School board censorship of library books and of curriculum materials and methodology can infringe on fundamental constitutional rights, according to this seventh chapter in a book on school law. In the last decade, cases in federal courts have tended to support the authority of school boards to control library materials. However, board authority…

Examines whether schools can or should restrict gang clothing and how to restrict gang clothing without infringing on students' constitutional rights. Concludes that a policy that stresses the importance of reducing distractions that inhibit learning is more likely to be found legal than a policy restricting gang communication via limitations on…

Discusses the extent to which public recreation programs can regulate attire which many people might consider offensive, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court states that school boards have the authority to decide what constitutes appropriate behavior and dress in public schools. One case involving a student who wanted to wear a Marilyn Manson…

An attorney for the plaintiffs in the "Smith vs. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, Alabama" case recounts his impressions of the trial, focusing on the nature of the press coverage. (NKA)

Disagreements over teachers' First Amendment, academic-freedom rights in curricular contexts are again receiving judicial attention. Two federal cases involving termination of exemplary high-school drama and creative-writing teachers have upheld school boards' authority to control curriculum context in disagreements over permissable subject matter…

Intended as a practical legal guide for Texas educators and lawyers, this book contains three major sections dealing with several chapters on various school law topics, each prepared by Texas attorneys. Section 1, "School Boards and Superintendents," includes chapters on school board members authority and relationship with staff, the…

This article reviews some of the First Amendment issues that school boards and their legal counsel often encounter during a school board meeting. The discussion necessarily begins with a brief review of the public forum doctrine, under which is included the traditional public forum, the designated public forum, and the nonpublic forum. The article…

Considers the legal meaning of the "right to receive" in light of the many cases where reading material has been censored by being removed from public school libraries. (NKA)

Discusses how using "Pickering v. Board of Education" or "Hazelwood School District v Kuhlmeier" as precedents in cases involving classroom speech by teachers has fostered court inconsistency. Proposes a judicial standard that emphasizes adequate notice to teachers when certain speech is proscribed and scrutinizes school-board…