The continuation of racial inequities in the United States has ignited the recent Black Lives Matter Movement, a protest of police brutality and gun violence. Black lives matter in public school classrooms, too--where students of color face barriers to equitable educational experiences. The Children's Defense Fund Freedom School program is a major…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Education Policy." Contents include: (1) Exciting Advances for Emergent…

Non-individualized (so-called "random") drug testing in public schools presents issues of Constitutional law on both the federal and state levels, particularly with regard to citizens' freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." The trend toward increasing acceptance of such testing by the courts (and particularly the U.S. Supreme Court)…

Author critically questioned the Coleman Report and asked whether we should not be asking what responsibilities young people owe to society instead of what society owes to its young. (Editor/RK)

For young people it just gets worse. Ten years after the Columbine tragedy, the debate over school safety has clearly shown that educators, parents, politicians, and the mainstream media have created the conditions in which young people have increasingly become the victims of adult mistreatment, indifference, neglect, even violence. The tragic…

Addressing often neglected broad issues, rather than the pragmatics of test development and administration, this Conference on Minimum Competency Achievement Testing was organized around six topics: (1) social and philosophical roots, uniqueness among testing movements, and policy issues; (2) legal, curricular, and social-demographic consequences;…

Organized around the theme of school violence, this booklet provides teachers and lawyers with classroom materials for elementary grades 4-6 (Level A), intermediate grades 6-8 (Level B), and high school grades 9-12 (Level C). In addition, each level contains pages for the lawyer (marked by the scales of justice), the teacher (an apple), and the…

This article considers multicultural education policies in relation to recent political and social events in England, France and Canada. The authors start from the assumption that the promotion of multiculturalism is thought to be a beneficial aim in schools. In light of this, they contrast this aim with the large civil unrest witnessed in 2005 in…

On college campuses today, the debate rages over whether self-restraint and tolerance for nonconformity is overriding a need to protect certain individuals and groups from objectionable speech. Some administrators, students, and alumni wish to prevent "bad speech" in the form of expressions of racism, sexism, and the like. Advocates for…

Serves as an introduction to four subsequent articles of this issue and notes that these articles identify and examine a number of issues central to the school law social change relationship. (Author/AM)

Reports on a study of private and public school teachers' perceptions of the relative importance of ten major social problems. Concludes that public school faculties exhibit a greater concern for the spirit of the law concerning the realization of human rights than is discernible in private academies. (Author/KH)

A federal project introduced law enforcement and community development techniques in three urban school districts. The study found school safety and respect for students' procedural rights to be compatible. It may be possible to incorporate the techniques of the project into more promising approaches to school crime and student misbehavior.…

Examines legislative and judicial interventions in the schooling process and discusses some consequences for teachers, administrators and school board members. (Author/AM)

Questions whether school officials are justified by the Fourth Amendment in searching students and/or student lockers in public schools. Various case studies are discussed as examples to consider in deciding about responsibilities, powers, and limitations of school officials, and in determining student rights. Journal availability see: SO 507 249.…

Explores the legal and educational dilemmas surrounding high school journalism by investigating how journalism educators' attitudes on how students' intellectual freedom can be protected in the public schools. Discusses academic advisor role and this issue. Provides answers to questions central to the debate, including a list of some social issues…