Describes how a group of middle-school students in Walled Lake, Michigan, collaborated with a Web development firm and the county information technology department to build a district court Web site (www.52-1districtcourt.com) to provide community access to legal information. Includes such features as a virtual tour of the court, "Ask the…

Discusses recent Kentucky case of "Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance v. Board of Education of Boyd County" wherein the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the Equal Access Act prohibited school officials from banning the Gay Straight Alliance from meeting in the high school since it had earlier permitted four other noncurricular…

From the 1940s to the 1970s, the numbers and outcomes of court decisions escalated dramatically in favor of students, employees, and other individuals suing school districts. Today, the overall trend of education litigation favors school officials. The single exception is the category for special education. Since passage of the original special…

The New Jersey legislature revised the school funding formula by eliminating $250 million in state aid over 4 years to 150 suburban districts and sending nearly $1 billion more to 30 less affluent districts. Contends that the method will ensure mediocrity and stifle innovation. Proposes three other funding formulas. (MLF)

Immoral behavior does not automatically provide the basis for dismissal of a teacher or administrator. There must be a proven causal connection or nexus between the behavior and job performance. (Author/WD)

Supreme Courts in Texas, Kentucky, and Montana have ordered their legislatures to devise more equitable ways of distributing funds to schools. The New Jersey Supreme Court is hearing a case; and lawsuits challenging school financing systems are pending in Alaska, Connecticut, Indiana, North Dakota, Oregon, and Tennessee. (MLF)

In "Wood," a dismissed employee sued the school district, the board, and three board members for violating Washington's Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). The Court of Appeals ruled that e-mail exchanges between board members discussing board business are "meetings" governed by OPMA. Board members should review state law with…

Analyzes "Camlin v. Beecher Community School District (Illinois)," wherein the state appellate court held that the school board violated its own drug policy when it expelled a high school student for allegedly smoking marijuana on a field trip without first offering him an opportunity to enter a drug education program. Court also held…

In "Hosford," a teacher led a discussion with 3 13-year-old boys in a special-needs class about words with multiple meanings that included obscene ones. The teacher's contract was not renewed. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in the teacher's favor and declared that primary and secondary school teachers have enough academic freedom…

The United States Supreme Court is currently deliberating the case of "Kiryas Joel." At issue is a public school district set up specifically to meet the religious needs of an orthodox Jewish community, as the community defines them. Presents opposing arguments from the New York State School Boards Association and the National Jewish…

Analyzes the California Supreme Court case "Randi W. v. Muroc Joint Unified School District." The court determined that letters of recommendation, which had omitted mentioning allegations of improper sexual conduct with students, were deceptively incomplete. Writers of letters have three choices: refuse to write a letter, write a fully…

Reviews court cases in which parents challenged school practices on religious grounds. Puts particular emphasis on recent attempts to make the curriculum conform to religious views. (Author/JM)

Reviews four recent cases decided in state and federal courts. The cases focused on due process in student suspensions, the use of unlawfully obtained evidence in disciplinary hearings, unacceptable methods for handling personnel conflicts, and the application of voluntary affirmative action policies during periods of staff reduction. (PGD)

A recent Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals decision stipulates that a school board may regulate "employe expression" only in rare circumstances--to prevent, for example, serious disruption of school activities--and only where the board has allowed for a timely review of the superintendent's decisions about distributing…