This case illustrates the importance for school leaders and teachers to be knowledgeable about current legal precedent when creating district and school policies. We describe a legal battle that occurred in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in which a school district instituted a policy affecting English learners that was in violation of two federal laws.…

High school exit exam requirements are affecting a growing number of U.S. students--particularly low-income students and students of color. This article examines the policy and legal landscape of exit testing policy to shed light on some of the key issues facing local school leaders charged with implementing these policies. The article first…

Recent efforts to change the teaching profession and teacher preparation include a number of innovations to use portfolio assessment, value added measures (VAM), accountability metrics and other corporate education reform ideas. These approaches may provoke considerable potential legal consequences. Traditional constitutional and civil rights…

A growing number of states and local schools across the country have adopted educator evaluation and accountability programs based on the use of student test scores and value-added models (VAM). A wide array of potential legal issues could arise from the implementation of these programs. This article uses legal analysis and social science evidence…

An academic leader needs to have a basic understanding of the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions, evolving laws, and legal issues affecting higher education and the relationship between legal considerations and academic administration. At the same time, an academic leader must focus on accomplishing the goals, objectives, and…

Recent lawsuits and judgments brought against colleges and universities for enacting affirmative action policies are threatening to dismantle the core principles of the Bakke decision (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke) and undermine the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This paper discusses current issues and challenges that pertain to…

This legal analysis of the issue of race-exclusive scholarships at colleges and universities and institutions receiving federal funds concludes that such scholarships are permissible under the Constitution or Title VI but only under limited circumstances (such as to remedy effects of prior identifiable institutional discrimination). (MSE)

The challenges in improving and sustaining success of children from multicultural backgrounds with disabilities in urban school districts manifest themselves in the contextual dynamics of legal, accountability, demographic, and fiscal terrains. Within each of these areas, educational leaders must solve existing problems of underservicing,…

The Office of Civil Rights' proposed ruling of minority-specific college scholarships as violating federal civil rights law, except when implemented as a result of court-ordered plans, is discussed and criticized. Legislative language, case law concerning minority-specific plans, and the history of postsecondary desegregation are examined.…

This paper explored the question of the applicability of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 to public broadcasting. Basically, those provisions require recipients of federal grants to use those funds in a non-discriminatory manner such that the benefit of the programs funded by the…

In an expansion of his paper presented at the American Bar Association's 1978 annual meeting, Professor Goetz reviews the 1977 Supreme Court labor law decisions, focusing on employment discrimination cases and the legality of affirmative action programs in the decision in Board of Regents of the University of California v Bakke. (MF)