Historically, private education has been an option mostly for families who could afford the cost or received financial help. Years of research have shown that many families would choose private schools and other educational resources for their children if they did not face insurmountable financial or geographical limitations. Private educational…

This article provides an overview of non-religion-based state constitutional challenges to educational voucher and tax credit/scholarship programs. The first section discusses litigation examining whether education voucher programs violate constitutional provisions requiring the legislature to provide an efficient system of public schools. The…

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…

According to the U.S. Supreme Court ("Island Trees School District v. Pico," 457 U.S. 853, 1982), the Constitution presupposes that the free flow of information between the government and the public is essential to maintaining an informed citizenry, which in turn is essential to holding governments accountable. However, local governments…

As a bilingual teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools, this author has seen many students deal with deportation. In this article, she shares a story of Elena, whose father was deported, that casts light on a growing crisis. She is using Elena as an example because this is "not" a unique story. It has many similarities to the experiences of…

Opinions about due process as it applies to the contemporary college campus range from the extreme view that due process as defined and practiced in U.S. courts of criminal law should be followed on college campuses to the opposite extreme that an educational community must evolve its own "due process" in light of campus objectives and…

The reasoning of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in In re Petition of Kruzel is examined in which the court held that a woman's name does not automatically change to that of her husband's upon marriage. The impact of this ruling is discussed, including the constitutional implications of administrative regulations concerning a woman using her husband's…

Reviews two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on Indian hunting and fishing, arguing that if Indians want to fish commercially they must join white society and fish according to the rules of that society. (JM)

Chapter 13 in a book on school law examines Wisconsin statutes pertaining to student medication. Wisconsin does not have a law that limits the liability of school administrators, teachers, or other school employees involved in administering medications to students. The performance of certain acts by Wisconsin school personnel might well be placing…

The objectives of the Wisconsin Task Force on Interlibrary Cooperation and Resource Sharing included gathering information on the current status and apparent trends in interlibrary cooperation and resource sharing in Wisconsin and elsewhere, identifying gaps and problems to be dealt with in planning, and making recommendations for future…

Pioneer district/charter-school contracts try to balance the quest for autonomy with accountability requirements. Districts' experiences in three states (Colorado, Oregon, and Wisconsin) and their chosen navigation tools offer clues to developing productive processes and relationships for negotiating successful contracts. A sidebar defines the…

This report focuses on laws in the state of Wisconsin as they relate to homemakers. Four areas are discussed, each in separate sections: marriage, widowhood, divorce, and wife abuse. The section on marriage includes information on property rights, disability and death of homemaker, federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act, domicile, interspousal…

This handbook summarizes current legal doctrine, state statutes, and federal and state regulations regarding the treatment of public school pupils in Wisconsin. It reports on court decisions that are binding in Wisconsin and those from other courts around the country that illustrate how pupil issues have been handled in other jurisdictions. After…