During its 1993 session, the Michigan legislature enacted two statutes for the organization and operation of public school academies, Michigan's name for charter schools. A circuit court judge declared the charter schools were unconstitutional. In response, the legislature amended its original enactment. Traces the short but curious history of…

Describes an Illinois case involving the demotion of an elementary school principal with 5 years of experience to a classroom teacher. The former principal sued the district claiming that her state due-process rights were violated. The state court disagreed, entering a summary judgment for the district; later affirmed on appeal. Reviews other…

Public education funding in the past 40 years has increased significantly, with parties turning to the judiciary in order to address perceived educational opportunity inequities arising from state education finance distribution formulas. As the 21st century opens, the question of public education finance is set squarely before the courts. This…

A libel suit for which the ruling hung on determination of the plaintiffs as public or private figures is described in this paper. First, the paper describes the case, in which an Oregon newspaper reported that an antique dealer and the local bank president had systematically swindled a citizen out of several hundred thousand dollars, and for…

This book explores the 150-year struggle against segregated education, showing how victory over segregation was gained, then lost. It provides court testimonials from 1849, through the victory of NAACP lawyers in Brown v. Board of Education, to the erosion of that decision in recent Supreme Court rulings. The story reveals that this long battle…

The consequences of the 1971 California Supreme Court decision "Serrano vs. Priest," in which the court sought to level disparities in school expenditure, and of the 1978 Proposition 13 property tax limitations are examined. The book concludes that changing the way California finances schools without changing the way it governs them has…

The Supreme Court opinion of June 2002 in "Zelman et al. versus Simmons-Harris et al." is reviewed in this paper. In the first section, an interpretation of the ruling is offered in terms of four evaluative criteria: freedom of choice, productive efficiency, equity, and social cohesion. Unsurprisingly, the opinion strongly emphasized…

A review of the major legal cases concerning the curricular debate over evolution and creationism shows how the courts, in recent cases, have applied fundamental constitutional principles in a way that preserves both intellectual freedom and freedom of belief. (CM)

Notes that although it has been cited in numerous cases, state and federal courts have been reluctant to adopt the neutral reporting doctrine since its announcement in 1977. (FL)

Describes numerous tactics that states have undertaken in order to circumvent the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which prohibits the incarceration of status offenders (children who come within juvenile court jurisdiction for noncriminal behavior). Discusses strategies for combatting these tactics. (GC)

While still leaving some questions unanswered, the guidelines provided in the "Weber" case have clearly helped to clarify the legal status of race-conscious employee selection procedures. (Author/IRT)

Reviews recent state and federal rural school funding litigation. Concludes that while rural school advocates have been relatively successful in the courts, efforts to obtain adequate state funding for rural schools through the legislative process are only partially successful. (Contains 16 references.)(PKP)

Discusses New York case involving harassment of a female high school junior by three other girls culminating in physical attack that results in serious brain injuries to the girl. Girl's parents sued school officials for negligence. Jury finds that the vice-principal acted in reckless disregard for girl's safety and awards parents $11.2 million…

Describes the Missouri Sunshine Law; discusses a Missouri appellate court decision indicating that the sunshine law may prohibit the electronic exchange (voice or email) of information concerning public matters among a quorum of school board members. (PKP)

Discusses two major barriers to successful legal challenges to denial of tenure based on allegations of gender or race discrimination: court deference to academic decision-making and the complexity of the process leading to the granting or denial of tenure. (PKP)