This article summarizes the applicable judicial analysis for cases in which special education personnel claim that their employing district retaliated against them for advocacy on behalf of students with disabilities. Providing examples of recent relevant court decisions, it traces the applicable essential elements and likely outcomes for such…

On August 18, 2020, The United States will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the vote. Belle La Follette played an important role in helping women gain the right to vote guaranteed in this amendment. She advocated for women in her home state of Wisconsin and across the country. This article…

Ralph Carr had neither expected, nor wanted, to be governor. Carr was at the midpoint of his second term as governor when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Public sentiment and the popular press overwhelmingly supported the incarceration of Japanese Americans. On February 18, 1942, for example, one Colorado newspaper editor…

As schools across the country face increasing fiscal restraints, school library professional positions are being eliminated at an alarming rate. As a result, many school librarians are becoming the only certified library professional in a district, serving multiple schools and grade levels. Suddenly, each is a solo librarian. As a solo librarian…

The First Amendment's guarantee of an independent press that may freely collect and disseminate news is often considered the bedrock of American democracy. Yet more than a century and a half after the "New York Herald's" John Nugent became the first American reporter jailed for refusing to identify a confidential source, reporters…

Groups that often find themselves on opposing sides of the cultural war over gay rights have bridged their divide to draft consensus guidelines designed to help public schools address sexual-orientation issues with sensitivity and respect. Representatives from the Christian Educators Association International and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight…

John Tinker and Mary Beth Tinker are back in a classroom in their hometown, once again wearing black armbands and drawing attention to a war. Now in their 50s, the siblings are living symbols of constitutional rights for secondary school students. In 1965, they and a handful of others were suspended for wearing black armbands to their public…