Two new American Bar Association rules can help school executives determine whether to use the board's attorney or hire their own private attorney. Various situations are cited to show the advisability of choosing one over the other. (KS)

Examines New Zealand legislation that allows families greater decision-making power when the safety and welfare of their children are seen to be at risk. Discusses the Family Group Conference intervention model and its efficacy, concerns and criticisms that this model has evoked, and the model's potential applicability to child care and protection…

Presents an account of the Mondale Initiative, i.e., an attempt during the period from 1967-73 to develop a national system of social indicators to improve social policy. The role of social scientists in national decision making and policy formation is examined, and a legislative history of the Mondale Initiative is appended. (51 references) (LRW)

Discusses the legal problems with racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions processes noting that there are only three possible goals that are legally "compelling" for the use of preferences: prophylactically to avoid discriminating, as remedial discrimination to make up for past discrimination, and to foster student diversity. (DB)

Personnel decisionmaking at colleges and universities is discussed, with consideration of ways to avoid legal problems. Two approaches are recommended for universities: develop procedures to minimize the risk of law suits by faculty members and school staff, and provide protection from lawsuits for faculty and staff. Institutional procedures that…

This paper examines the variety of legal rules and processes which have been established to assess and ensure that the quality of care provided in nursing homes satisfies an acceptable level. It begins with a general overview of nursing home law. Areas discussed in this section include: (1) sources of nursing home law; (2) theories of liability;…

Although seldom used by organizations such as schools, Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 is definitely available to them. College administrators must understand how the code can work and overcome emotional resistance to filing a bankruptcy proceeding. Reviewers' comments to those ideas are included. (MSE)

The relationship of the law to ethics committees is examined, including the legal context and impetus for such committees, categories and roles of members, member appointment and removal, member power, timing of committee action, responsibility and liability, and issues about records of committee action. (Author/MSE)

A school board meeting serves several purposes. It is important that school boards be successful and effective governing bodies. This means becoming more efficient in conducting routine business; improving their ability to reach constructive decisions and to solve problems; making their meetings a source of good will among members, students, and…

Court decisions concerning fiscal crisis in institutions of higher education are outlined, involving tenure, grounds for dismissal, and faculty participation in decision making. (FG)

Litigation is discussed in which courts have established principles of law governing student academic assessments relating to course grades, admission to degree programs, and expulsion from programs for academic deficiencies and whether these academic decisions impair student's constitutional and/or contractual rights. (MSE)

In conjunction with court decisions on financial exigency, the Yeshiva decision has an ironic consequence: tenured faculty can be managers for the purpose of exclusion from protection by the National Labor Relations Act, but at the same time have no managerial role in determining staff reduction in financial exigency cases. (MSE)

This monograph is intended to help boards of education meet the increasingly stringent legal demands placed upon them when they are called upon to conduct adversary hearings, particularly in cases involving the termination of an employee or the expulsion or long-term suspension of a student. The material covers the requirements of due process as…

Most educational reform cases proceed as class actions in which there is no single aggrieved plaintiff with clearly identifiable views, but rather an aggregation of individuals, often with conflicting preferences. This paper explores the problems presented in educational reform class actions where plaintiffs disagree over the remedial objectives…

Academic decisions related to grouping, grading, and student promotion are discussed in this legal memorandum for secondary school principals. Federal and state court cases involving enrollment, student placement, promotion, grading, graduation, and gender-based classification are examined. Conclusions are that judges tend to respect an educator's…