Principals and other educators often have perceptions about key issues in school law that are remarkably wrong. When that is the case, they help reinforce those prevailing perceptions by sharing them with teachers, parents, and other administrators, and by contributing to misguided practices and policies. Where do educators get such…

Providence, Rhode Island, is one of those gritty eastern mill towns that wears its centuries-old history on its sleeve. Like many American cities, Providence is home to a struggling public school system with chronically low-performing schools. They include Roger Williams Middle, where last year only 17 percent of eighth-graders scored at or above…