Discusses the importance of drug-testing policies for educators by analyzing the recent Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal's decision in "Knox v. Knox." Concludes that mandatory drug testing for educators in safety-sensitive positions will not infringe on the constitutional rights of school employees. (Contains 30 footnotes.) (MLF)

Assesses what the Internet can do for legal researchers compared to the LEXIS and WESTLAW commercial online services. Highlights include the United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Supreme Court decisions, directories of lawyers and law firms, state law, Congressional information, and listservs and newsgroups. (LRW)

Discusses a federal district court decision ordering a trial to determine if the New York City Public Schools created a "hostile work environment" in violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act by not protecting a Sri Lankan-born teacher from repeated ridicule and harassment by students. (Contains 10 references.) (PKP)

Analyzes recent federal court decision striking down school anti-harassment policy on First Amendment grounds. Discusses freedom of expression rights in public setting as compared to public-school context. Argues decision incorrectly relies on law developed outside public-school context, unjustifiably finds violation of First Amendment, and may…

Describes the facts and state and federal constitutional law related to "Zelman v. Simons-Harris," a Cleveland school-voucher case before the United States Supreme Court. Argues that the Court will likely uphold the constitutionality of the Cleveland voucher program, finding that it does not advance religion in violation of the First…

Now that the Supreme Court in "Davis" has determined that schools can be sued for what one child does to another, schools will have a hard time avoiding frivolous lawsuits. The difficulty of analyzing the "Davis" decision lies in drawing a line between teasing and harassment. The conduct of certain six- and seven- year-olds…

Discusses 10th Circuit Court decision upholding constitutionality of Oklahoma school district's policy that prohibited, with certain exceptions, part-time school enrollment, thus denying home-schooled student from taking certain specialized courses. (PKP)

This article examines a conflict that arose in 2004 between a federal court's oversight of desegregation and the implementation of the public school choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act in Pinellas County, Florida. School system leaders challenged the statute on the grounds that it would likely disrupt a controlled-choice plan…

In 1985, the United States Supreme Court, in "New Jersey v. T.L.O.," held that the Fourth Amendment applies to searches and seizures conducted by public school administrators. This paper discusses the current state of Fourth Amendment law with regard to public school searches and seizures. Among the subtopics discussed are the following:…

Before Washington, D.C. became the permanent home of the United States Supreme Court, first New York and then Philadelphia hosted its meetings. From 1791 to 1801 the Court met in Philadelphia. This paper reviews the highlights of the Court's cases during this formative decade. Among the most important developments in the Court's jurisprudence at…

Two recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court have emasculated First Amendment guarantees for military personnel. In the first case, Parker v. Levy, an Army captain urged enlisted Special Forces personnel at his post to refuse to go to Viet Nam, claiming that "Special Forces personnel are liars and thieves and killers of peasants…

This chapter summarizes a number of cases in which the Supreme Court has dealt with the separation of church and state question presented by the First Amendment. These include an Arkansas statute that excluded Darwinian theory from the high school science curriculum. The Court declared the statute unconstitutional because the exclusion was…

The authority that local school officials and state athletic and activity associations have over extracurricular activities is the subject of this survey of reported cases beginning in 1980. Legal developments are discussed in the areas of general transfer rules, transfers and private schools, ineligibility based on nonschool incidents, team and…

Although schools cannot actively promote religiously-oriented activity, neither can they prohibit such activity. The 98th Congress passed the Equal Access Act in an attempt to ground students' rights to practice religion in the schools in well-established constitutional principles requiring equal treatment, protecting student-initiated meetings,…

Public secondary school administrators should deduce from the 1985 "New Jersey v. T.L.O." Supreme Court decision that searching students does not violate the Constitutional prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures when there are reasonable grounds for suspicion. The "Wallace v. Jaffree" case, decided in the same…