This article examines some of the court cases that deal with equal educational opportunity, education as a state function, and equal opportunities and equal protection in student classification. (Author)

Filing a lawsuit against a school district often means challenging the core values of a community. Cases discussed include a suit to prevent the broadcasting of morning prayers in school ("Herdahl"), a suit over the singing of a religious song ("Bauchman"), and drug-use testing for student athletes ("Acton"). (MLF)

Analyzes the history, values, and legal issues involved in the inclusion controversy. Opponents of full inclusion of all students with disabilities in the classroom contend that it is a simplistic answer to complex problems. The Community Engagement Dialogic Model is an approach for dealing with judicial intervention in many special-education…

An examination of the constitutionality of team prayer shows that pregame prayers violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, and their use can lead to liability problems for both coaches and school boards. Advises school boards to adopt policies specifically prohibiting team prayers. (MLF)

Since 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act has been challenged and taken to the Supreme Court six times. Reviews the Court's rulings on the act and notes the alliances and grouping patterns of the opinions, as well as the changing nature of the Court's opinions of the act. (MLF)

Presents a comparative examination of state statutory codes related to public educator termination, and an analysis of recent court cases involving hearing officers in public education termination actions. (68 footnotes) (MLF)

Reviews and synthesizes court rulings that have expressly discussed the factor of economic cost in considerations of appropriateness of special-education programing. Advises educators to expend their resources in providing appropriate individual special-education programs rather than litigating the costs of those programs. (197 references) (MLF)

Addresses the authority of school officials to regulate student dress by examining school dress codes, first with respect to communicative dress--or dress that communicates speech--and then with respect to noncommunicative dress. Provides a summary of the law on dress codes and a basic set of rules to assist school officials in drafting…

Responses from 157 principals (65 percent of a national sample) showed strong support for dress codes. Research focuses on the perception of school principals regarding dress codes, analyzes dress codes for common features, and proposes a constitutional standard of review for contested dress codes. (58 footnotes) (MLF)

In "Boring vs. Buncombe County Board of Education," the 4th U.S. Circuit Court reversed decision involving a school board's control over curriculum in a North Carolina high school. Controversy was over a play chosen for an advanced acting class that had been approved by principal. Decision says public school teachers have absolutely no right of…

In Kansas City, Kansas, the school system wanted to do more than end two decades of court-ordered desegregation plans. The district created a comprehensive and integrated plan for educational improvement that can be used by any district. A three-pronged approach to school planning focuses on programs, demographics, and facilities. (MLF)

Parents generally expect public school districts to provide for their children's care and safety while they are at school. Although in the first half of the twentieth century common law tended to make school officials immune from suit, more recently public school districts, school employees, officers, and elected boards have been successfully sued…

The educational beliefs of Supreme Court Justices in the 1980s are examined, i.e., the explicitly stated beliefs, rather than any inferred beliefs based on legal decisions. In particular, the focus is on beliefs expressed only in the major Court opinions rendered in the 1980s. Issues discussed include the definition of education, its relation to…

This book analyzes changes in the nature and extent of student crime and violence in American public secondary schools from 1950 to 1975. Specific attention is given to the types of juvenile crimes, disorders, and disruptions that most strongly influence the administration of schools and generally require administrative responses. School responses…

Since 1970 approximately half of the states have challenged the constitutionality of state educational funding methods under equal protection or educational adequacy grounds. A review of court cases finds no clear trend towards acceptance or rejection of state provisions for school financing but does reveal a heightened awareness of inequity in…