Discusses six legal issues that are emerging at the classroom level: class suspension and due process, class rules and teacher inconsistency, classroom equality of opportunity, competency testing, classification of students, and classroom management in alternative schools. (Author/IRT)

New approaches need to be developed to constructively join law and education without resort to constant litigation and judicial intervention. The case for "preventive law" in public education is presented and a four-step implementation procedure recommended. (Author/MLF)

Management attorneys, from different law firms, outline the potential constitutional pitfalls involved in drug testing public employees, and then set forth the factors that most likely will support the validity of testing programs and that are consistent both with employee dignity and the Constitution. (MLF)

Examines whether the college catalog and language therein constitute a legally binding contract between college and student. Categorizes catalog litigation by cases involving dismissal, granting of degrees, tuition, admission, and course offerings. The courts appear to agree that the student-college relationship is contractual in nature and that…

Summarizes findings of a survey questionnaire mailed to all Arizona school districts to determine the circumstances, conditions, and costs of using attorneys. Legal advice is obtained from various sources. However, a few firms are most often used, few procedures exist for hiring or evaluating school attorneys, and access is typically through the…

Examines Texas legislation and court cases as well as federal court cases to determine the extent to which students should be afforded constitutional guarantees. (JF)

Higher education administrators planning for retrenchment should follow these guidelines: document the financial circumstances justifying retrenchment; devise a long-range financial plan; identify how and by whom retrenchment decisions are made; and know both the interests of and procedural protections available to faculty, staff, and other…

Although the law pertaining to tenure denial based on scholarship and teaching is well settled, legal issues governing faculty dismissal due to declining college enrollments are unsettled. This paper reviews tenure cases and explores tenure denial based on institutional need, anticipating development of a separate body of law. (72 references) (MLH)

University administrators are challenged to develop policies that protect the educational atmosphere for marginalized groups while also protecting freedom of speech. The appropriate administrative response to outrageous or hateful speech on campus may be constructive speech and action, not discipline of speakers. This article summarizes relevant…

Points out an emerging confluence of apparently unrelated forces that eventually may join in a serious threat to the practice of selective admissions. Focuses on several paragraphs in the recent Newman Report on graduate education; the ruling in DeFunis vs Odegaard, a case decided by the Washington State Supreme Court; and certain provisions of…

Ohio's experiences in the areas of "voluntary" certification, mandatory scope of bargaining, remedies for refusals to bargain, grandfathering, mixed-motive discharges, and clear-and-present-danger strikes have been troublesome. However, the state's experience with agency shop agreements and deferral to arbitration has been sound. (MLF)

Since public schools serve children of diverse religious backgrounds, an upstate New York district tried to construct a policy where all students felt comfortable. Proponents had an uphill struggle, since many constituents found nonreligious Christmas assemblies and displays acceptable. This article highlights Williamsville's Free Exercise and…

Identfies the legal constraints and dynamics (in their institutional and political settings) which operate on community education. Examines (1) how community education fits into the structure of more traditional public education law, (2) how the courts have regarded community education, (3) the relevant policies that State education codes and…