Several years ago, the Legislature adopted significant amendments to the basic conflict of interest statute for local elected officials, primarily in the area of financial thresholds, but also in the area of scope of enforcement. This is an important area of the law for board members and superintendents, so a current and thorough knowledge of the…

The third edition of the National Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Neglected or Delinquent Children and Youth's (NDTAC's) "Transition Toolkit" provides updated information on existing policies, practices, strategies, and resources for transition that build on field experience and research. The "Toolkit" offers…

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…

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between teacher dispositions, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and reasons that school principals recommend non-renewal of teachers' contracts. Nearly 2,000 school principals in 13 states completed an emailed survey. In deciding whether to non-renew a teacher contract,…

Even as they struggle to climb out of deep financial holes, states are facing lawsuits that contend they do not meet their constitutions' requirements to provide sufficient funding to districts and fail to provide resources for disadvantaged schools and student populations. This article reports on legal battles in Texas, Colorado, and elsewhere…

Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of…

Scholarship programs authored by state legislatures may conflict with a state's constitution. In the case of "Locke v. Davey" 540 U.S. 807 (2003), Joshua Davey challenged the State of Washington's withdrawal of his Promise Scholarship claiming violation of his First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. This…

This guide is intended to give individual school board directors an introduction to some of the legal issues they may encounter in their board service. This material is not intended to answer every question, even in the subject matter areas they cover. This guide is merely intended to alert directors to the legal issues that they will encounter…

Nearly every legislative session in the last decade has changed state law in a way that requires school board members and superintendents to be more highly sensitized to conflict of interest issues, regardless of the size of their district. Prior state law simply forbade most opportunities for financial conflicts of interest, especially those…

Comparing program objectives with program outcomes, 4 program components targeted at 1,100 American Indian students in 9 school districts in Pierce County, Washington were evaluated. Program objectives operationalized by an 11-member staff including 9 specialists and 1 coordinator were to develop: (1) basic skills via tutoring services for…

An overview is provided of the issues, procedures, and prevailing judicial rationale for faculty tenure decisions in the state of Washington. All legal cases decided in Washington and cases from other jurisdictions that have had an impact on Washington law are summarized in this digest. Each case summary consists of an introduction of issues…

In 2003, education program officials at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation asked attorneys at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education to explore legal issues affecting the establishment and operation of small high schools in Washington State. Although this guide will be of interest to small school advocates…

In February 1971, the Seattle School District received funds to conduct a study of the feasibility of implementing the education voucher plan in Seattle. The study was divided into two preliminary phases. Phase 1 conducted over a 4-month period, consisted of an investigation of the areas of the city where the plan could best be tested, an analysis…

The 58-page reproducible text is an introductory guide to the role of police and the procedures surrounding traffic tickets in the state of Washington. It is designed for high-beginning to intermediate adult learners of English as a second language. In 17 brief, simply illustrated units, students are introduced to the police officer's job, types…

This curriculum guide consists of materials for high school vocational agriculture instructors to use in teaching a course in the law and agriculture. Addressed in the individual units of the guide are the following topics: the purpose of the law in our society, the judicial system, contract law, torts, ownership of land, and water rights. Each…