The relationship between the principal and the law has never been easy to define. This book provides basic information on the current status of law, risk, and site-based management as they relate to the legal rights and responsibilities of principals. Twenty-one chapters are included in five sections. The first section discusses the school and the…

From a legal perspective, teacher evaluations can be a school's most valuable tool when administrators need to pursue or defend personnel actions. The first step in a practical evaluation process is to determine the evaluation's purpose, and the second is to determine what is to be evaluated. Evaluations should focus on factors that actually…

Tenured teaching staff member in New Jersey cannot be dismissed from their positions unless a board of education establishes just cause in a hearing before the Commissioner of Education. This pamphlet, designed to assist boards in filing dismissal proceedings for unsatisfactory tenured teachers, provides a comprehensive review of all recent tenure…

Courts generally rule against drug testing of public employees. A urine sample represents "unreasonable search" under the Fourth Amendment. Testing unreliability was illustrated in "Jones v. McKenzie." Factual, "reasonable suspicion" must exist for judicial approval. Tests do not resolve employee drug abuse;…

Discusses cases involving a nontenured high school coach's firing, state-mandated competency testing, and civil rights of public employees. (KS)

The author discusses what he considers to be the 10 leading cases on education labor relations decided in state and federal courts during the 1990s. Concludes with a prediction that efforts to implement merit-pay schemes tied to student performance will lead to employment conflict. (PKP)

Defines and gives examples of remediation as a process prior to dismissal proceedings, in which a teacher is evaluated by administrators, who identify deficiencies and provide the teacher an opportunity to correct them. Identifies what constitutes remediable conduct, how requirements for remediation are imposed, and how courts review dismissal…

Discusses five areas of the school environment lending themselves to the possibility of teacher and student teacher liability: negligence, malpractice, rights to privacy, field trips, and search of students and school property. Suggests specific guidelines for decreasing the possibility of adverse legal action. (NEC)

This casebook intends to show young people that their rights, their way of life, and indeed sometimes their very life, can depend on one remarkable document, the Constitution of the United States. The casebook is about the United States Constitution and how the Supreme Court and lower courts have interpreted it to govern the lives of U.S. public…

Within the core of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) are a number of measures to hold states, school districts, schools, and school personnel more accountable for student progress. Summarizes state legislation and court cases concerning school administrators, tenure, collective bargaining, and personnel records. (Contains 32 references.) (MLF)

Explores whether using a review board to approve the use of a movie infringes on a teacher's right to academic freedom. Also examines, in the absence of such a policy, whether teachers can be disciplined for showing movies that some parents, board members, or administrators regard as inappropriate. (68 footnotes) (MLF)

In a case involving questionable canine search-and-seizure practices, a circuit court upheld a school board's decision to terminate a teacher's contract. While touting zero tolerance, the board fired an honored teacher 3 years from retirement who may not have known about the marijuana cigarette in her car. (MLH)

This handbook is the 16th in the series of monographs designed to summarize judicial decisions on elementary and secondary education. The cases included in the book were selected from judicial decisions found in federal and regional reporters for the period July 1, 1993, to June 30, 1994. The cases provide a general overview of school law issues…

The examination of Montana's teacher tenure laws as mandated by House Joint Resolution 43, required a thorough review of the legislative development of the teacher employment laws, a summary of relevant case law on the rights of school boards and teachers, an awareness of the philosophical postures of the affected parties, and a dispassionate look…

Dismissals for ineffective teaching, as distinguished from insubordination, immorality, or improper treatment of students, are rare because standards of teaching against which to juxtapose an individual teacher's behavior have not been available. However, abstract performance standards for teachers are beginning to emerge from research on teaching…