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)

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)

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…

This monograph, the fifth in a series, contains summaries and discussion of selected state and federal court decisions handed down during the Supreme Court's 1981-82 term. The cases were selected on the basis of their relevance to contemporary problems in public school settings, their definitiveness as articulations of existing law, and their…

While the number of cases dealing with school property issues was significantly lower than in previous years, a significant number of cases involving the detachment and attachment of land to school districts arose. Eight of the eleven cases dealing with land detachment come from Illinois. The cases concerned requests from parents that their…

MAARDAC (Mid-Atlantic/Appalachian Race Desegregation Assistance Center), located at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), is federally funded (Title IV of Civil Rights Act of 1964) to help local education agencies in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee solve problems connected with school desegregation. (LC)

In the United States Supreme Court ruling "City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co.," six separate opinions were issued by the Justices, indicating that the Court remains divided in the scope, rationale, and implication of its affirmative action decision. This commentary explains the Court's decision and provides some guidance to school…

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 1972 on a case involving changes in boundaries of a county school district in Virginia which had been operated as a dual school system. Two weeks after a federal district Court ordered a school-pairing plan, the Emporia City Council announced that city's intention to operate an independent school system. The…

The major responsibilities of the committee whose background and activities are reported here were: (1) to examine and review data on Title 1, Elementary Secondary Education Act programs in the school district and on the basis of this review and evaluation to advise the school district, Title 1 Parent Advisory Council, the State Department of…

Section 1983 of the 1871 Civil Rights Act includes the option of money damages for violations of the Constitution and federal laws. The focus of this paper is on the scope and limit of school district liability. Questions decisions where boards may have avoided liability by intentional ignorance of inaction in the face of supervisory incompetence.…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 stresses procedural safeguards regarding special education identification, placement, or services. Reviewed a sample of Illinois due process appeal decisions and concluded that the system appears to be serving Illinois educators and parents reasonably well. (20 references) (MLF)

The hearings on the issues before the Court in this school desegregation case encompassed weeks of trial. The primary defendants in the instant issue were members of the Virginia State Board of Education; the State Superintendent of Public Instruction; and the members of the respective school boards and boards of supervisors of Henrico and…

In its June 1998 "Gebser" decision, the U.S. Supreme Court virtually eliminated the strategy of suing school districts in cases where students have been sexually harassed by school employees. Summarizes the majority position in the 5-4 decision and presents Justice Stevens's main dissenting opinion. Unresolved is the sexual harassment of…

The plaintiffs are some 30 Puerto Rican and Hispanic parents and their 57 minor children who attend Public School 19 (hereinafter P.S. 19) in Brooklyn. The defendants are the members of the Community District School Board Number 14 and of the New York City Board of Education. The Community Superintendent William Rogers and Chancellor Irving Anker…