Describes several legal issues involving school board member use of electronic mail, especially violation of state open-meeting laws. Offers several tips to avoid legal pitfalls. Briefly describes Freedom on Information Act issues related to electronic communication. Provides sample policies on e-mail use. (PKP)

Continues the history of prison education in Florida by reviewing legislative and bureaucratic changes in the 1970s and 1980s, enrollment and funding fluctuations, and transfer of authority for correctional education from the state's department of education to the department of corrections. (JOW)

Provides an overview of state-level college faculty post-tenure review policies, describes their features, and speculates about the future of post-tenure review. Notes statements of Virginia's 1994 Commission on the Future of Higher Education that criticize the tenure tradition and Virginia state legislation requiring greater accountability by…

After providing recent survey evidence of significant widespread hazing of students in high schools, author calls for the enactment of stricter state anti-hazing laws to eliminate adverse impact of hazing on students' physical and mental well-being. Author also calls for increased educational efforts to reduce hazing. (PKP)

Describes history of state school-finance litigation and legislative efforts related to the construction and renovation of school facilities in New Jersey. Provides a detailed description of the Educational Facilities Construction and Finance Act. Discusses current status and challenges in implementing the act, concluding with an analysis of…

Examines state- and district-level spending patterns in Tennessee to assess the extent to which the Basic Education Program (BEP) funding formula has affected spending in the state and spending in districts with varying characteristics, for example, poverty status of students, school district size. Suggests that BEP led to greater education…

Citing new provisions of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, discusses legal limitations and exceptions to posting personally identifiable student information on a school district's Web site. (PKP)

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican candidate for governor, is one of several lawmakers across the country supporting a group called First Class Education, which is pushing for state initiatives that would require schools to spend at least 65 cents of every education dollar in the classroom. The group, led by Overstock.com…

Decisions by university officials not to notify a student's parents following a suicide attempt on campus have been severely criticized by some observers. Although courts have not imposed a parental notice requirement, the practice is advantageous to students in many situations. The author recommends a system of notification that relies primarily…

A Black state lawmaker said recently that Black voters feel betrayed by Democratic leaders who agreed to a higher education bond plan that may threaten the future of the Black college in Tulsa. Rep. Opio Toure, D-Oklahoma City, also says he plans to apply for the president's job at Langston and is considering running for statewide office as an…

As primary contributors to the marketplace of ideas, colleges and universities have historically been the locus of contention for the worldviews of the left and right. Debate has become more heated in recent years, fueled by the war in Iraq and the renewed prominence of moral issues such as reproductive rights and same-sex marriage. In this…

In states that do not have legislation or regulations providing specific and strong requirements for gifted education (i.e., individually defined and enforceable rights akin to those under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]), the "case law"--the published hearing/review officer and court decisions concerning who is…

This article focuses on the recent flurry of legislation in states to address bullying among school children. The primary purpose is to describe, compare, and contrast current state laws about bullying. Specifically, a description is provided of legislators' definitions of bullying and legislative findings about the nature and seriousness of…

A new Georgia program aims to give every high school a full-time educator dedicated to dropout prevention. This program is part of Georgia's highly visible new attempt to increase the state's graduation rate. Rather than giving school counselors or administrators one more task, Gov. Sonny Perdue's goal for the program, which was approved by the…

Beginning this past summer, all new employees at some Ohio public universities, including those accepting teaching positions, are being confronted with politically sensitive and intrusive questions. In addition to the "Have you solicited any individual for membership in an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist…