This paper discusses five court cases decided in the seventies that explain the viewpoints held by the courts on pregnant school employees. According to the paper, the cases reveal the judicial background that prompted P.L. 95-555, passed by Congress in 1978 and identified as an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII. The cases, not…

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act provides that each and every point source of pollution be under treatment with the best available technology by July 1983. The Act mandates that: every point source of pollution be issued a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit and comply with effluent guidelines, and the 1983 best…

School personnel are expected to exercise a reasonable degree of care in foreseeing and preventing accident or injury. Court challenges in this area come as tort suits--the legal recourse of an injured party against the allegedly responsible party. As previous governmental immunity erodes, tort suits against educators are increasing. This chapter…

This report discusses the constitutionality of state aid to church-related institutions of higher education. The introduction deals with the important role that private institutions play in the total system of higher education, the seriousness of their financial plight, and the necessity for increased state aid to these institutions. Sections 2…

Recent court decisions have declared that those public school financing systems dependent substantially on local ad valorem (property) taxes violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The violation stems from the fact that local school district spending and educational quality are dependent on the values of real property in the…

State and Supreme Court litigation perpetuates the controversy over the role of creationism in the science classroom, and surveys reveal that many Americans continue to doubt the scientific validity of evolution theory and believe in equal classroom time for creationism. (MSE)

Female athletes and women's sports administrators have joined a broad coalition of civil rights groups lobbying for passage of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, to counteract the effects of a 1984 Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the scope of federal antidiscrimination laws and endangered women's opportunities in intercollegiate…

In three recent cases, courts upheld school officials' decisions to prohibit students' school-based religious activities. Contends that the school boards and courts failed to exercise sufficient care in weighing students' right to engage in private religious activity during free time. (MLF)

Two federal courts of appeals each reversed a controversial lower court decision and in the process reaffirmed state control over curriculum policy. Discusses the implications of these cases for the scope and the limits of school board authority over the curriculum. (MLF)

The Yeshiva decision emerged at an unfortunate time for many professionals. Public policy, as embodied in our labor relations laws, should encourage consultative decision making in matters of professional concern without penalizing those professional by extinguishing their rights as employees to unionize. (Author/MSE)

Discusses (1) a Michigan court decision concerning reverse discrimination and voluntary affirmative action policies; (2) the Massachusetts Supreme Court's rejection of the work-to-rule strategy; and (3) an Arkansas law that will allow teachers failing a basic skills and literacy test to be fired only when their state certification expires. (MLF)

This speech, presented at the American Psychological Association meeting in Chicago, 1975, discusses various forms of discrimination against women, how women must cope with this discrimination, and federal legislative efforts to reduce this problem. (Author/HLM)

Congress enacted the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in 1974 as a floor amendment to a comprehensive education statute. Until 2002, persons trying to understand and comply with FERPA were without guidance from the Supreme Court, which did not hear a single FERPA case from 1974 to 2001. In its 2001-02 term, however, the Court…

This paper presents court cases for the purpose of updating current knowledge on search and seizure of students in the school setting. These cases focus on the balance and interplay between students' Fourth Amendment rights and school administrators' obligations to maintain order and discipline in the schools. Part of this obligation implies…

Presented is the complete text of the judgment, injunction, and opinion of U.S. District Court Judge William R. Overton who enjoined the Arkansas Board of Education from implementing the "Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act" of the state legislature. (Author/DC)