The growth of state laws creating private school vouchers and charter schools has mounting and alarming ramifications for students' rights, and those ramifications are shaped by a complex and shifting set of legal rules. This article explains the interplay between the increase of these school-choice programs, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent…

Chapter 1 of a book on school law, this article analyzes the role of the U.S. Supreme Court, and contends that there has been a judicial takeover of functions that had been delegated by the Constitution to the states and to the people. Specifically, the author argues that much of the Supreme Court's expansion of its powers rests on the selective…

The recent "Garcia" holding by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals federalized students' constitutional rights against excessive corporal punishment under the 14th Amendment's due process clause. Major issues raised by the Supreme Court's 1977 "Ingraham v. Wright" decision are thereby resolved. School boards should review…

The American tradition of sovereign immunity and the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution have provided certain legal protection to government personnel, including leaders of public elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions, but the concept of governmental immunity may be difficult to understand as it applies to…

Examines various theories that courts have used in applying Fourteenth Amendment criteria to nonpublic colleges and universities. Specifically examined are the agency theory for state actions; the public responsibility, government function,and stae involvement doctrines; the theory of permissive norms; and the concept of natural justice.…

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…

The applicability of Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process to private colleges and universities is discussed. After considering state action in private higher education, cases from 11 federal judicial circuits are reviewed to show how courts have applied the various theories of state action. An emerging theory of state action that is…

This article discusses Supreme Court cases bearing upon the legal parameters for permissible government regulation of religious elementary and secondary schools. Two legal strategies of religious interests, traditional and radical, are described, followed by a discussion of strategies at the state level. (TE)

Teachers and other public employees enjoy the same fundamental rights as other citizens. They are entitled to free speech--though the privilege is not limitless--and to due process and equal protection under the law. (Author/DCS)

The government is a special employer that operates under the guidelines of the United States Constitution. Under these guidelines, government may not, without adequate justification, (1) deprive its citizens of fundamental, protected rights such as the freedoms of speech and association; (2) deprive a citizen of property or liberty without the due…

Major legal issues confront urban schools today, among them: (1) equal access of racial groups to quality education; (2) students' rights to due process; (3) teachers' rights to due process, academic freedom, collective bargaining, and promotion to administrative positions; (4) equal opportunity for those needing special education; (5) equal…

The effect of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the numbers and status of women in the academic physical sciences is addressed, and historical trends since the beginning of the century regarding the participation of women in education and science are briefly reviewed. The percentage of women doctoral degree recipients grew steadily from…

Application of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to dismissal of public employees has become clarified through such recent federal court litigation as "Loudermill v. Cleveland Board of Education" in 1981, which followed the Supreme Court precedent set in 1972 in "Board of Regents v. Roth." The threshold…

This monograph analyzes health and safety issues in education in terms of relevant constitutional and statutory provisions. Chapter 1, an introduction, summarizes Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and due process clauses and defines "handicapped" under the Rehabilitation Act. State assistance and student eligibility under the…