The authority that local school officials and state athletic and activity associations have over extracurricular activities is the subject of this survey of reported cases beginning in 1980. Legal developments are discussed in the areas of general transfer rules, transfers and private schools, ineligibility based on nonschool incidents, team and…

Recent court cases involving tort liabilities of institutions of higher education are discussed in this chapter. Issues addressed include negligence citations for injuries in physical education classes, a wrongful death suit, medical malpractice cases, and slip and fall accidents. Other cases included fraudulent misrepresentation, defamation of…

A review of cases involving higher education property matters shows that many are concerned with building construction, equipment installation, or repair contracts. A number of other cases involve routine conflicts between colleges or universities and other governmental entities over matters such as requests for special exceptions to zoning…

Higher education collective bargaining cases reviewed in this chapter follow the basic sequence of steps in the negotiation process, from issues of the rights of organization and negotiation through scope of bargaining, bargaining conduct, and union security to the ultimate problems of strikes and contract enforcement. Within this common outline,…

This chapter reports cases that involve some type of tort claim within the school context. Torts are civil claims brought against a person or organization on grounds that the person or organization violated a responsibility not to injure another party. Most of the cases discussed deal with accusations that the school or an employee of the school…

Summarized are 56 completed or pending state court cases regarding the right to an education, the right to treatment, and placement of handicapped children and adults. The decisions are reported to have substantiated the right of handicapped children to equal protection under the law including being provided with an education and full rights of…

Summarizes major court cases that have provided some sense of the extent to which teachers may legitimately select course content and teaching methods. (RBW)

Academic freedom is an elusive concept. Many university and college faculty members who purport to possess its protections believe they have a solid understanding of its nature and of the individual rights secured by academic freedom. There is some consensus on the meaning of the term in the academic universe. This concurrence of understanding is…

New York State's system of financing education needs reform. Children in school districts where poverty pervades do not receive an adequate education; disparities in available funding resources have produced uneven levels of school spending among school districts; and state-aid formulas fail to correct for differences among districts. Children in…

New York State provides aid to local schools in a way that is unfair to the neediest school districts with high educational needs or low property wealth. Proposed in this policy brief is a new formula for state aid based on a comprehensive educational cost index and a school performance index that reflects an average passing rate on the new…

A county circuit court judge defined "quality" education for public schools of West Virginia. The case illustrates that comprehensive decisions about curriculum, instruction, and supervision for an entire state are within the jurisdiction of the court. (MLF)

An overview of recent court decisions on prayer in public schools is followed by brief synopses of cases in nine areas concerning primary and secondary levels and four areas concerning higher education. Finally, law review articles on federal and state issues are summarized. (MD)

The issues of science, religion, and the U.S. Constitution continued in 1979 in a creationist's Superior Court complaint against the teaching of evolutionary theory. The legal strategies by the adversaries were as significant as the arguments; and, in this case, academicians' scholarship was at a disadvantage in the courtroom. (Author/CM)

Examines the relation of the part-time classification of teachers in California to the statutory tenure system as it has been construed by the state courts in a series of cases. Available from Wm. W. Gaunt & Sons, Inc., 3011 Gulf Dr., Holmes Beach, FL 35510. (Author/MLF)

This article focuses on techniques some courts have utilized to balance the tensions between the aggrieved faculty members who allege discrimination--sex, race, national origin, handicap, age--in the promotion process and who seek disclosure of the peer review process and the colleges at which the charges are levied. (MLW)