Rather than anticipating an issue or proactively addressing it, college and university administrators often find themselves in the position of reacting to recent laws or court decisions. This paper examines an issue ripe for proactive thought; an issue not yet directly considered in court cases: free speech and the student employee. In the…

The article presents the legal situation of home education in Germany as a multi-level problem touching upon German constitutional law, State (Länder) constitutional law as well as administrative law, and the liberties of the European Convention of Human Rights. Whereas the parents' right to care for their children is explicitly granted by German…

This article aims to "modernize" the current legal debate over inequitable public school funding at the state and local level. The 1973 Supreme Court case of "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" established precedent, allowing for property-tax based education funding programs at the state-level--a major source…

Central banking in the United States has a long and controversial history dating back to the earliest days of the republic. One of the most widely presented arguments against a central bank has been that the U.S. Constitution does not expressly grant the federal government power to charter a bank. Recently, this issue has received new scrutiny in…

Non-individualized (so-called "random") drug testing in public schools presents issues of Constitutional law on both the federal and state levels, particularly with regard to citizens' freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." The trend toward increasing acceptance of such testing by the courts (and particularly the U.S. Supreme Court)…

When first conceived, charter schools were envisioned as local projects initiated by parents and/or groups of teachers seeking to improve the educational performance of students. In the past two decades, the phenomenon has expanded to more than 5% of all U.S. public schools and almost 3% of all students (Center for Education Reform [CER], 2009).…

Understanding what motivates people to challenge books and how community members react to these challenges can help librarians find better ways to work with challengers to come to equitable solutions. This study focused on the motives behind challenges to the acclaimed children's book "And Tango Makes Three" and the reasoning given by…

This paper examines the difficulties encountered by Biowatch, a South African civil society environmental organization, in its attempts to obtain access to government information in respect of genetically engineered plants. After establishing the context of South Africa's access to information regime, including a brief discussion of several of its…

America's colleges and universities are supposed to be strongholds of classically liberal ideals, including the protection of individual rights and openness to debate and inquiry. Too often, this is not the case. Across the country, universities deny students and faculty their fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression. The report…

The longest lasting and most intimate interaction with government for most Americans takes place in US public schools. The Court's choice to enter into the national religious debate intensified the rhetoric and polarized many Americans into opponents and proponents of increasing religious instruction in public schools. This work narrates the…

This article examines charter schools from the perspective of religious institutions and parents that may want to open such schools. Religion-based charter schools also pose unique policy and legal questions because charter schools are a singular reform method. It examines the relevant, recent and historical, legal cases, and relevant examples of…

Background: By a 5-4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 declared that voluntary public school integration programs were unconstitutional. Citing the prospective harm that students and their families might incur from being denied admission to the high school of their choice, the…

A growing number of states and local schools across the country have adopted educator evaluation and accountability programs based on the use of student test scores and value-added models (VAM). A wide array of potential legal issues could arise from the implementation of these programs. This article uses legal analysis and social science evidence…

Background/Context: In June 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to prohibit student assignment on the basis of race. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (hereafter referred to as PICS), the court deemed race-based strategies used to voluntarily desegregate school districts to be unconstitutional. Although the…

Charter schools, which are public schools of choice, are typically operated as not-for-profit organizations, essentially functioning as independent districts consisting of single schools, by private groups including parents either independently or occasionally in conjunction with public institutions such as universities. In return for being…