Recent efforts prohibiting race-related diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have informed localized public pushback narrating anti-equity campaigns. Emerging research and media accounts have largely focused on adults engaged with or against these efforts, with less attention on youth and their perceptions of these campaigns. To center…

This report addresses the actions taken in September 2021 by the administration of Indiana University Northwest that led to the dismissal and revocation of tenure of Dr. Mark McPhail. The investigating committee found that IUN violated several AAUP-recommended standards of academic due process and the protection of intramural speech in the…

Business law and legal environment textbooks typically devote a page or two to the tort of invasion of privacy, describing the four versions of this tort, including "appropriation of identity." The Clarkson textbook notes that "An individual's right to privacy normally includes the right to the exclusive use of her or his…

A 2020 lawsuit involves a public school teacher who refused to address transgender students by their preferred names because of his religious beliefs. This case is particularly significant because it is the first K-12 decision that analyzes this matter. This issue has important policy implications for schools and students.

Over its 23-year history, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has worked to educate leaders in higher education to uphold the highest standards of academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability. The most serious challenges in memory to the free exchange of ideas essential for liberal education has been faced. For the last…

Courts have long held that public school teachers are "state actors" when they carry out the duties of their job. Despite this, very few teacher preparation programs include an education law class. In order to understand teachers' legal literacy, a survey was given to 300 public school teachers in Indiana. The survey assessed knowledge…

Some private, religious schools that accept vouchers have been accused of discriminating against certain populations of students through their admissions processes. Discriminating against disfavored groups (e.g., racial minorities, LGBT students, students with disabilities, religious minorities) in voucher programs raises both legal and policy…

In this month's Courtside, the author will stray somewhat from his usual format of describing a single case. Instead, he will be presenting the details of two separate cases, both of which involve similar circumstances, rely on similar legal arguments, and have similar outcomes. Most important, both appear to carry the same lesson. The lessons…

This paper is a personalized account of one high school journalism faculty advisor's dismissal from her teaching position because she allowed students to publish a series on sex related problems in the high school newspaper. Following a background statement about the case now pending in court, the events leading up to the firing of the teacher are…

Questions a recent court decision in which public school employees who gathered on their own time on school property for prayer meetings and religious discussion were found to be in violation of the school district's policy prohibiting prayer meetings and in violation of the Constitution. (MD)

Reports on a survey of Indiana high school newspaper advisers examining the impact of the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision on scholastic journalism programs. Finds that, although advisers believe in freedom of speech and First Amendment rights for high school students despite the decision, they also express a tendency to avoid…

A variety of resource documents and articles are included in this professional improvement packet that is designed to assist teachers and administrators in reducing the conditions under which censorship might occur. The documents presented are: the Indiana code laws concerning textbook adoption; the American Library Association's library bill of…

A chronology of the events in a 1977-1978 series of teacher/school board/administrator conflicts in Warsaw, Indiana, is presented in this paper. Newspaper stories, editorials, letters, memoranda, interview statements, legal documents, and minutes of various meetings are cited in accounts of numerous individual events. The events reported involve…