This paper analyzes the significance of a court's action on educational improvement. During its 2001-02 term, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in and decided the "Owasso Independent School District Number 1-011 v. Falvo" case. This case involved whether it is an acceptable practice for teachers to allow students to grade…

A study analyzed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell's court opinions on First Amendment issues that affect the daily work of journalists. The results showed that he preferred compromises, guidelines, and tests to either/or solutions. Because Powell sought to balance all interests, he developed no firm theoretical position on the First…

Two broad messages emerge from the case of The Regents of the University of California vs. Allan Bakke: (1) there is a need for strengthening the "soft" or difficult-to-quantify data used in admissions decisions; and (2) there is a need to implement concepts of educational due process in the admissions procedure. These two exist in some…

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 report provides an overview of the struggle to desegregate schools in the United States. It describes the two phases of desegregation, focusing on court decisions that influenced desegregation and how these decisions changed the composition of the schools. It opens with the 1849 decision that asserted that desegregation was for the good of…

This article examines the effects of the "Acton" decision, a Supreme Court ruling that upheld random urinalysis of secondary-school students who participate in extracurricular athletics. The paper focuses on cases involving general (mass) searches, "medical assessment" searches, strip searches, and drug testing. Although the…

The history of the 11th amendment to the U.S. Constitution and its current application to schools and universities are examined in this paper. The amendment, which seeks to protect the states by redefining judicial boundaries within the federal concept of government, is unclear and paradoxical, especially to claimants seeking federal relief from a…

In addressing the problem of drugs, Reagan Administration efforts focus on both the supply and the demand of drugs. One problem, the diversion of legal drugs into the illegal market, can be accomplished by pharmacists, drug manufacturers and distributors, or by forged or fraudulent prescriptions. Pharmacists can combat this problem by…

There has been a renaissance of scholarship during the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Continued implementation of the Constitution requires that its text, its structure, and its principles be widely known and respectfully understood. U.S. citizens need to respect the Constitution as it was understood by those who framed it. Underlying the…

Two questions are presented for consideration by Bishop v. Wood. The first is when procedural due process must be followed before a public employee can be terminated or the employee's status significantly altered. The second is when a public agency must give an employee a hearing to allow the employee an opportunity to clear his or her name when…

Given the lack of judicial clarity on desegregation and the general reluctance of society to follow the spirit and intent of the Brown decisions, it is not surprising that problems have arisen as a result of desegregation efforts. Nor is it surprising that minority students, teachers, and administrators have been the ones to pay for those…

Following "Tinker vs. Des Moines Community School District," the United States Supreme Court decision that assured First Amendment rights to secondary school students and teachers, California began experimenting with statutory guarantees of free expression for students at the high school and community college levels. Decisions issued by…

The Supreme Court broadened freedom of expression for high school and college students in its landmark decision of 1969, "Tinker vs Des Moines Independent School District.""Tinker" is significant in that it affirmed the Court's protection of free speech unless such expression is likely to produce "clear and present…

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in "Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier" established that a public high school newspaper, produced by students in a journalism class, is not a forum for public expression. The Court said that although school board policy specified that student free speech would not be restricted, other factors…

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in the nation's public schools. This decision has not eliminated racial segregation, but it fundamentally altered the psychological pattern of race relations in the United States. Brown concerned a form of racial discrimination that has virtually vanished from…