The 2016 presidential election campaign and its aftermath have underscored worrisome trends in the present state of our democracy: the extreme polarization of the electorate, the dismissal of people with opposing views, and the widespread acceptance and circulation of one-sided and factually erroneous information. Only a small proportion of those…

This dissertation explored the constitutionality of a Georgia law, under both the Georgia Constitution and the United States Constitution, which allows for the removal of elected school board members based on threatened loss of district accreditation. The problem is that elected board members are being removed from office based on district…

High school exit exam requirements are affecting a growing number of U.S. students--particularly low-income students and students of color. This article examines the policy and legal landscape of exit testing policy to shed light on some of the key issues facing local school leaders charged with implementing these policies. The article first…

This study examined federal and state court decisions related to student Fourth Amendment rights following the "New Jersey v. T.L.O." ruling in 1985. There has been minimal research in judicial treatment of students' Fourth Amendment rights across regions of the country and less to what extent regional rulings implicitly or explicitly…

There have been many studies done and much research completed on the problem of academic dishonesty at the college and university level. However, there is a dearth of studies done on academic dishonesty as it relates to the legal issues and trends related to higher education administration. The purpose of this research is to analyze the issues,…

To explore the relationship between teachers' knowledge of school law and their involvement in litigation, this study examined cases between 2000 and 2008 involving teachers who faced some adverse employment consequence. A total of 130 published cases were analyzed revealing the following: School districts and other school authorities prevail in…

Merit pay is now in the midst of a renaissance. Hundreds of school districts are experimenting with some type of performance-based pay system. At least six states have statewide or pilot programs, and the federal government has spent close to $100 million on the Teacher Incentive Fund. Whether such programs will last, encourage the start of…

The first section of this article examines the historical record of Ohio's Second Constitutional Convention in an effort to discern what the delegates meant by "thorough and efficient" system of education. Included in this analysis are other historical documents that give further indication of the intent of the delegates. A brief review…

This report was written to provide current information on the existence of medical malpractice problems and the need for federal involvement and alternatives for resolving malpractice claims. It presents the perceptions of respondents from 37 nationally based organizations representing medical, legal, insurance, and consumer interests who…

In "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Texas school finance system did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment and that education was not a fundamental right deserving of strict judicial scrutiny. This paper discusses various school financing schemes recently challenged in…

Twenty-five years ago, law suits seeking recovery against the individual resources of school board members were virtually unheard of. Now, personal judgments impacting upon the individual resources of board members are commonplace. The legal developments that have contributed to this rather sudden change of circumstances are explained in this…

This is the 22nd in a series of yearly updates of judicial decision summaries for case law related to elementary and secondary education issues. One can use previous and future editions to track decisions on appeal or to see trends in case law. With few exceptions, the cases were selected from court decisions found in federal and regional…

This is the 21st in a series of yearly updates of judicial decision summaries for case law related to elementary and secondary education issues. One can use previous and future editions to track decisions on appeal or to see trends in case law. The cases included, with a few exceptions, were selected from court decisions found in federal and…

Concludes that federal courts subpoena reporters less often and uphold subpoenas less often than do state courts. (FL)

Legal issues surrounding the distribution of nonsubscription newspapers are examined in this paper. The paper first discusses selected United States Supreme Court cases that pertain to the circulation of printed materials. It then explores recent state court decisions pertaining to the area of distribution law as it applies to nonsubscription…