Because school systems throughout America depend on local property taxes for much of their revenue, districts with poor property valuations, especially rural districts, are facing fiscal crises. In response to a lawsuit filed in 1991, the Ohio Supreme Court twice decided that the state's heavy reliance on local property taxes for school funding…

This document contains the following "Abbott Opinions": (1) "Early Childhood Education"; (2) "Adequate School Facilities"; (3) "Supplemental Programs and Whole School Reform in Elementary Schools"; (4) "Supplemental Programs in Middle and High Schools"; and (5) "Planning Programs and Budgets…

Illinois tort policy has swung from supporting the sovereign immunity of school districts, to completely striking down sovereign immunity, to narrowing conditions in which districts and employees could be liable. Advises Illinois and other states with similar problems to develop legislation and court precedents to reduce the complexity of tort…

A guide to child abuse investigations reviews the following: theories of liability; legal responsibility to report child abuse; legal rights of a school employee accused of child abuse; legal problems that could arise if a school district enters into a secret settlement agreement; insurance concerns; and ways to interact with the press, the…

Examines school-funding equity litigation concerning rural schools, effects of political power on rural funding, rural and urban competition for funding, unique funding problems of rural schools, the growing threat to equity posed by sales-tax funding schemes, and future funding-litigation strategies for rural schools. Tables list relevant federal…

Describes the facts and legal basis of federal court decisions in "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris," a case before the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if Cleveland's school voucher program violates the Establish Clause. Discusses the possible educational, legal, and political consequences of the Court's decision. (On June 27, 2002, the Supreme…

As Americans commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "Brown v the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" U.S. Supreme Court public school desegregation decision on (the Brown decision), the author was tempted to refer to it as a "celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the legal end to racial segregation in the public schools of the…

Judicial decisions affecting educational policy and management that were handed down in 1997 by state appellate courts and federal courts are summarized and analyzed in this book. The analyses, each written by one or more experts in educational law, are divided into nine topical chapters: (1) employees; (2) school governance at the state and local…

Declaring that the relationship between states and church-related schools has become increasingly confrontational, the author proposes that judicial solutions should be more flexible. Courts called upon to balance the interest of a state and a church-related school have generally ruled either for the state or the school. Two cases are analyzed…

The dismissal of public school teachers in Oregon is governed by the Fair Dismissal Law. The statutory requirements of the law involve (1) a notice from the superintendent of intent to dismiss, (2) school board approval of dismissal, (3) the teacher's right to appeal to the Fair Dismissal Appeals Board (FDAB), and (4) the school board's and…

This report examines State level strategies designed to promote local desegregation efforts as reflected in pupil reassignment plans, housing desegregation, community involvement, and changes within schools. The case histories and results of successful desegregation litigation in thirteen States are discussed. Also presented are the following task…

The author notes that two trends appear to be developing in litigation over the governance of the public schools. One trend is increasing participation of organized groups in suits against the schools. The other is a greater volume of litigation dealing with open meeting laws and freedom of information acts. Reflecting the second trend, the…

In this chapter the author notes that only one conclusion concerning the litigation covered is warranted: the extremely large number of cases dealing with employment issued continued unabated in 1980. The main areas of litigation are discrimination (primarily on the basis of race and sex); substantive constitutional rights; due process; immunity…

The major issues surrounding the financing of schools cluster in three areas: the use of public money in private and parochial schools, the sources and allocation of public school funds, and the ability to raise school taxes. Although the number of cases dealing with religion declined, there were cases concerning the use of public money to provide…

In order to assess the quality of justice available to Native Americans in Pennington and Charles Mix counties, South Dakota, investigations were conducted from June through November 1976 with a two-day informal hearing and 130 interviews around the state. Despite progress made during the last few years, Indian people continue to face problems in…