April 2015 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the landmark legislation that has provided the foundation of federal education policy in the United States. In "Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools," longtime policy analyst Jack Jennings examines the evolution of federal education…

Group decision-making can result in important benefits for organizational effectiveness. However, collaborative environments do not emerge organically. Effective leadership is critical for group success. Educational leaders must understand group processes and the importance of creating a culture that supports collaboration. Student discipline for…

In 2 recent legal cases, graduate counselor education students challenged the imposition of remediation plans as violating their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion. With special emphasis on this recent litigation, the article examines the legal standards governing the authority of counselor educators at public colleges and…

Neil Carter of Ridgeland, Miss., is about to take a leap of faith--based on his lack of faith. In a state where 91 percent of residents say they believe in God "with absolute certainty," according to the Pew Research Center, Carter began "coming out" recently to friends as an atheist. The 41-year-old special education teacher is also exploring…

The authors present a model for creating spiritual and religious safe zones in school counseling programs that implements the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling's (ASERVIC; 2009) "Competencies for Addressing Spiritual and Religious Issues in Counseling" in a school setting. The authors frame the model within the…

This article describes a lesson in which students will examine several views expressed by the founders to understand the context for including freedom of the press in the First Amendment. Students will be asked to think about the role that the news media and the need to be an informed citizen continue to play in our democracy. Students will…

The author reports on the ruling of a divided appellate court that held that the state law unconstitutionally made it harder for minorities to seek preferences than for other groups. The court struck down a voter-passed ban on the use of race-conscious admissions by Michigan's public colleges, holding that the measure had unconstitutionally put…

In this article, the author provides a detailed legal history of originalism and investigates whether, and to what extent, originalism is a part of law school teaching on the Constitution. He shares the results of an examination of the leading constitutional law textbooks used in the top fifty law schools and a selection of responses gathered from…

Contrary to culture-war rhetoric from the Right, there is more student religious expression and more study about religion in public schools today than at any time in the last 100 years. And contrary to dire warnings from the Left, much of the religion that goes to school these days arrives through the First Amendment door. Of course, this isn't to…

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…

On December 21, 1911, Fremont Weeks, an employee of the Adams Express Company, was arrested while on the job at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Police suspected that Weeks was selling and "transmitting chances" in a lottery, which at the time was considered gambling, an illegal action in Missouri. While Weeks was being held at…

The latest episode in the long-running struggle for control of the Constitution, and the political power that goes with it, is playing out in the federal courts in California. The contending philosophies are originalism, which holds that the Constitution should be read as it was originally understood by the framers and ratifiers, and the congeries…

The federal government's role in PreK-12 education has long been contentious and continues to evolve. Many have written about education governance, but few have attempted to define an appropriate role for the federal government. That is the core purpose of this essay. The authors articulate a set of principles to guide the federal role in…

This article features two documents which can serve as a starting point for a lesson on public service while students debate the amount of pay that public servants should receive. These are: (1) the printed draft of the Constitution showing George Washington's handwritten corrections that eliminated state payments and included the phrase "to be…

This article discusses whether school officials or districts can be held liable for student suicides. Generally speaking, there are two legal theories that underlie suicide-related lawsuits: (1) negligence--a claim that the school failed to uphold a particular duty to the student and that such failure contributed to the student's death (legally…