The history of the 11th amendment to the U.S. Constitution and its current application to schools and universities are examined in this paper. The amendment, which seeks to protect the states by redefining judicial boundaries within the federal concept of government, is unclear and paradoxical, especially to claimants seeking federal relief from a…

Findings of a study that explored how California school reforms are initiated and revised and how differences between the judicial and legislative areas affect policymaking are presented in this document. Two themes--financial reform and retrenchment--are examined at two levels: as a case study about the politics of school finance reform and also…

Following the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1989 ruling that declared the state's common school system unconstitutional, lawyers and educators sued the state legislature for failure to provide an efficient school system. The role of litigation and lawyers in Kentucky education reform is examined in this paper. Part 1 describes how a group of lawyers…

This court litigation reverses Farris and Black of Home School Legal Defense Association v. South Carolina State Board of Education, which found that the Education Entrance Examination (EEE) was properly validated for use in testing home school instructors as regulated by S. C. Code Ann. Section 59-65-40(A)(1)(a)(1990), the home schooling statute…

"Kentucky v. Rudasill" involves state regulation of 22 Christian schools recently established by fundamentalist churches. The schools used the "Accelerated Christian Education" curriculum; the Kentucky Department of Education refused them accreditation because they did not use state-approved textbooks or state-certified…

The information sheet, consisting of four pages, looks at the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 by presenting goals of welfare agencies working with Indian families, provisions of the Act, reasons for reluctancy of states to accept tribal jurisdiction of child welfare cases, and criteria for evaluating petitions for…

Throughout this bibliography, an asterisk identifies citations especially useful for school law classes. The library identification code and a brief annotation accompany the citations that are organized in the following sections: (1) guides to legal research; (2) indexes; (3) dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories, and handbooks; (4) American…

School attorneys are primarily concerned with such issues as search and seizure, chain of custody, civil rights liability, and tort liability. Members of the National Organization on Legal Problems of Education (NOLPE) working within school districts can help reduce crime in the schools. NOLPE members could contribute to the clarity of thought and…

This fourth chapter of "The Yearbook of School Law, 1986" summarizes and analyzes state and federal court decisions handed down in 1985 related to handicapped students, and to the conditions affecting them and, to a lesser extent, school personnel. Among the topics addressed are the procedural safeguards established to ensure appropriate…

A number of cases related to property issues involving institutions of higher education are examined in this chapter. Cases discussed touch on such topics as funding for property and equipment acquisition; opposition to building construction or demolition; zoning issues; building construction and equipment contracts; and lease agreements. Current…

The two major areas of litigation concerning collective bargaining are challenges to arbitrability and to arbitrators' awards and contests over the scope of bargaining. As these topics indicate, there is currently more dispute over the differences the parties have in carrying out their bilateral relationship in bargaining than over the existence…

This legal memorandum provides an overview of the growing body of legislation and litigation concerning reduction in force (RIF). The focus of the article is the suspension or dismissal of teachers for reasons unrelated to their competence or behavior. Cases concerning other professional personnel such as principals, or other staffing strategies…

Although the Supreme Court has answered the important questions concerning the constitutional requirements for searches of students by school officials in the public schools, many issues remain unresolved. School officials are advised to proceed with caution, particularly with regard to strip searches, mass searches, and dogs to sniff students…

Parental rights and state compulsory school attendance requirements are limited by constitutional constraints, as shown in three benchmark cases. The article also cites cases to show the impact of compulsory education laws on home schooling, which is increasing. The state retains the power to impose minimum curriculum requirements. Cites…

Although judicial influence in education seems to have faded since 1973, the federal government's diminished involvement in educational support and policymaking may result in a new wave of reform if challenges to the nonenforcement or rewriting of existing statutes providing services to disadvantaged groups are brought to court. (MJL)