According to this document, citizens need to reaffirm their commitment to the guiding principles of the religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The rights and the responsibilities of the religious liberty clauses provide the civic framework within which individuals are able to debate differences, to understand one…

This article reviews some of the First Amendment issues that school boards and their legal counsel often encounter during a school board meeting. The discussion necessarily begins with a brief review of the public forum doctrine, under which is included the traditional public forum, the designated public forum, and the nonpublic forum. The article…

Focuses First Amendment claims within the public schools: (1) claims of students to free expression; (2) right of students to receive information; (3) right of teachers to use materials and teaching methods of choice; and (4) right of parents to have their children exempted from assertedly objectionable materials. (MLF)

To assist public school administrators in identifying constitutionally permissible religious observances of national religious holidays, this paper analyzes a federal appellate court case, Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, in which it was found that public schools would not violate the First Amendment by observing religious holidays if the…

The first textbook censorship challenge reached the courts in 1949, when a group of Jewish parents objected to Jewish stereotypes in literature used in the classrooms. This New York case is a reminder that (1) would-be censors do not always come from the far right; (2) while most censorship cases go to court for the purpose of having controversial…

This handbook describes ways to prevent and resolve social problems in schools and communities. The book explores the possibility that identifying character as the ultimate goal for children will give a new perspective on child development and education that is needed in order to reform schools and strengthen communities. Concerns with respect to…

Over the last two decades, the co-authors of this book have worked together to build a tradition of intellectual freedom within public schools. The book describes their struggles as cultural workers, the pedagogical and legal strategies they employed, the resistance they encountered, the lessons they learned, and the impact that they have seen on…