Cyberbullying has been identified by school leaders and researchers as one of the most serious adverse consequences of incorporating information technology into the classroom. This article examines the legal status of cyberbullying by conducting an analysis of selected federal appellate court opinions. This analysis identifies a set of legal…

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)

A study of federal court decisions issued between February 1969 and the end of 1982 revealed that while students do have clearly defined constitutional rights, they also have many legal responsibilities. Forty-two areas of student responsibility are discussed, and 135 relevant court cases are cited. (PGD)

This paper examines the practice of search and seizure from a legal perspective. All issues concerning lawful or unlawful search and seizure, whether in a public school or otherwise, are predicated upon the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The terms "search,""seizure,""probable…

The authority that local school officials and state athletic and activity associations have over extracurricular activities is the subject of this survey of reported cases beginning in 1980. Legal developments are discussed in the areas of general transfer rules, transfers and private schools, ineligibility based on nonschool incidents, team and…

Although schools cannot actively promote religiously-oriented activity, neither can they prohibit such activity. The 98th Congress passed the Equal Access Act in an attempt to ground students' rights to practice religion in the schools in well-established constitutional principles requiring equal treatment, protecting student-initiated meetings,…

Through an analysis of the six federal book banning cases that have been adjudicated in the past decade since "Ginsberg v. New York" and "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District," this paper explores the difference in current First Amendment theory in the area of student access to books. A review of the six cases indicates that the…

Reviews federal cases that have considered whether school districts have an affirmative constitutional duty to protect school children. Research findings suggest that school children may be as helpless as prisoners when it comes to defending themselves from sexual abuse by school employees. (MLF)

The 11th Amendment, ratified in 1798, has proved itself a great source of discussion, even confusion, among many courts in this country. Historical background on the development of the 11th Amendment and its interpretations in different cases sets the context for the rest of this paper, the theme of which involves state immunity from federal…

This review of the Supreme Court's term of cases that are relevant to school districts is divided into five sections by subject matter: (1) desegregation; (2) voting rights and political activity; (3) employment and labor; (4) student rights; and (5) special education. A list of cases and statutes discussed, with citations is included at the end…

This paper examines what exactly an educational record is. The definition of educational record is central to how the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) are laid out. In order to gain FERPA protection, a document must be considered an educational record. To set context, the paper describes FERPA as an act stating…

This paper is a presentation, in outline form, of the development of the "quasi-nonpublic forum," where cases involving student free speech push the envelope of what is acceptable under Constitutional law and what is appropriate/acceptable student behavior under constraints set by school regulations. Context is set by presenting court…

The United States Supreme Court has to date decided four major cases dealing with curricula or the rights of students. The Court (1) declared unconstitutional a law that prohibited instruction in evolutionary theory, (2) upheld the right of students in school to express their views on controversial subjects, (3) extended protection under the…

During the 1970s, courts repeatedly overruled acts of administrative censorship of high school publications, even when the publication in question included "earthy" language or attacks on school officials. The trend toward expanding students' First Amendment rights began in 1969 with the "tinker" ruling, which reaffirmed the right of three…

The author traces the history of the applicability to students of the Fourth Amendment, which defines search and seizure of person or property to be illegal without a valid search warrant supported by probable cause. Various court decisions have affirmed students' constitutional rights, but Louisiana is the only state that has held, in a decision,…