In today's public secondary schools, administrators face challenges that prior generations never anticipated, one of which is the T-shirt conundrum. The T-shirts that students wear to class contain all sorts of messages and images, many of which administrators may well consider inappropriate. This article is intended to help beleaguered educators…

A parent brings a cyber bullying incident to your attention and expects you to resolve it. What are the students' rights and your responsibilities according to the law? Because the laws regarding disciplinary action are still evolving, this manual fills the gap by providing public school leaders with data-driven solutions for managing cyber…

Suggests the rights of high school students to access and use their schools' Internet resources are confusing and complicated. Discusses authorized user policies, freedom of expression, and the Internet as a library. Concludes that until the Supreme Court establishes a legal precedent, students, parents, administrators, and teachers are left the…

This First Amendment Guide promotes a model of religious fairness and respect. Public schools should protect the religious-liberty rights of students of all faiths or none. Curriculum should include study about religion as an important part of a complete education. The advice offered in this guide draws on shared vision and relies on recent…

The competing constitutional interests of the student press and the rest of the community at a state university are examined, addressing issues of administrative censorship, mandatory student funding of newspapers, and open access and right of reply claims made against the student press. (MSE)

A wrongful arrest/racial discrimination suit in Livingston, Texas ended unfavorably for the parents of an African-American fifth-grader complaining of unfair treatment by his teacher and classmates. The parents' complaint should have been remedied, short of their having to make a federal case of miscommunication. (MLH)

Service learning is not immune from legal problems. In 1993, the third Circuit Court of Appeals quashed a lawsuit claiming a school's mandatory public-service requirement violated the 1st and 13th amendments. The most recent case was pursued against a New York district whose modest public-service requirement supposedly forced students into…

Two court cases involving parental objections to a school's curriculum on religious grounds carry important implications for the balance of control school boards and parents exert over the public school curriculum. (TE)

Focuses on the problem of censorship in the public high schools, examining the legal aspects of censorship in that setting. (NKA)

Issues in students' First Amendment rights are discussed in this paper, which is directed toward school board members. The "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Schools" (1969) decision is discussed, in which the United States Supreme Court struck down the discipline imposed on students who wore black armbands during school hours to protest…

The Student Press Law Center serves as a national clearinghouse to collect, analyze, and distribute information on the First Amendment rights of student journalists and journalism teachers and on violations of these rights in high schools and colleges. This report details information concerning current censorship incidents: the investigation by…

The Principal's Legal Handbook contains information and recommendations for practice in four areas. Section 1, "Students and the Law," yields interesting and informative answers on a number of issues related to students and the law: recent issues in schools relative to students' rights; the use of technology; and the latest case law and…

The merits of student arguments challenging the constitutionality of mandatory student fees to finance certain activities or services are examined and balanced against the public university's interest in providing a forum for the expression of diverse and controversial ideas. (MSE)

Discusses legal issues resulting from implementation of an advisory component in a comprehensive middle school program. Focuses on safety issues in team-building activities, confidentiality and reporting issues related to adult advisory roles, and First Amendment issues related to religion. Examines the teacher's legal role. Concludes that…