The results of recent cases indicate that residences and dormitories owned by higher education institutions should be considered "dwellings," and thus subject to the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act (1968) as amended requires that the providers of dwellings accommodate assistance animals, which includes not only service animals,…

Since 1980, Michigan retirees have been afforded health care benefits for which they were required to pay 10 percent of the premium upon retirement--the remainder was paid for by the state. Recently, the Michigan Legislature reduced the financial obligation of the State for retiree health care benefits, placing it on the individual member. In…

In this article, we explain how overly prescriptive, rigid state statutory and regulatory policy frameworks regarding teacher evaluation, tenure and employment decisions outstrip the statistical reliability and validity of proposed measures of teaching effectiveness. We begin with a discussion of the emergence of highly prescriptive state…

The author of this article, an education attorney, begins by describing a case where, a school superintendent of personnel for a rural school district in Michigan had just received a performance evaluation with high marks and a new three-year contract. Two months later the school board called him into a closed session and presented him with…

This report examines the rationale for opening deliberative processes to the public and discusses, specifically, the Michigan open-meetings law. The following topics are addressed: the definition of public business; the components of a free press; the relationship between open meetings, community expertise, and civic consciousness; and protection…

An appellate court found that Michigan's popular prepaid college tuition program is not subject to federal income taxes, reversing an earlier decision. The program, considered a model for other states, was suspended in 1991 due to fund depletion from tax payments. The Internal Revenue Service is considering an appeal. (MSE)

Describes a suit against the East Lansing (Michigan) Schools, brought by conservative religious parents dissatisfied with counseling, music, and conflict-resolution activities provided for their third-grade son. The plaintiffs' action failed. The Hatch Act has limitations. However, there is strong public sentiment against entrusting schools with…

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not ask the Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision to exempt the Michigan Education Trust from federal income taxes. The state college tuition prepayment plan was discontinued in 1991 due to legal challenges but promised to honor its commitments to 55,000 participants. The program may now be…

Controversy surrounds Michigan's first charter "school"--a distance-learning network of home schoolers that may come online this fall with some 1,200 students and about $6.6 million in state aid. The school could make a $4 million profit by its third year of operation. An alternative curriculum that promotes creationism has the Michigan…

Michigan has long advocated local control of education, a philosophy that particularly applies to purchasing school buses. To counter adverse legal actions stemming from noncompetitive bidding practices, the Michigan School Business Officials and the Michigan Association for Pupil Transportation collaborated to develop a comprehensive,…

Campus police and other college officials believe the 16,237 alcohol arrests and 7,060 drug arrests on college campuses in 1996 reflect tougher enforcement, not increased usage among students. This is particularly true in states such as Michigan, where state law concerning underage drinking has changed, and in communities where enforcement is…

For-profit charter-school managers may be removing the "public" from public education. A study of 11 Michigan charter schools showed that cost-cutting strategies are adversely affecting student transportation, special education, and the socioeconomic mix of students. Corporations' superimposed bureaucracies have eradicated educators'…

This report explores some issues in the distribution of educational services to students in the tri-county area and Michigan as a whole. Specifically, it examines the allocation of two important indices of educational opportunity measured by the State Department of Education's Educational Assessment Program: classroom teachers per 1000 pupils, and…

Faculty termination criteria of community/junior colleges in Texas and Michigan were studied, and case law was researched to determine how definitive the criteria need to be and how the courts have interpreted general criteria. In Texas, 37 public two-year colleges were surveyed, with 25 replying. Of these, 11 institutions supplied policy…

This instructional guide focuses on legal careers, a part of the Business Services and Technology Program developed by the Michigan Department of Education Office of Career and Technical Education. It provides a variety of curriculum materials for teaching about the occupations of legal office specialist and legal assistant. The legal office…