Pure research in school law is not possible, since the researcher must rely on inquiry that can be verified by experience and observation in the field. The studies produced in the past year tend to fall into the following classes: compliance, accountability, impact, cost-effectiveness, Supreme Court decisions, and the process by which minority law…

This guide to student disciplinary hearings provides an understanding of procedures and options during the student suspension or expulsion process through the perspectives of the different participants. Section 1, "Why Hearings?" discusses due process and the three categories of student disciplinary hearings: pre-suspension, suspension, and…

Because of the growing frequency of educational malpractice lawsuits, this study reviewed the current status of case law regarding educational malpractice, and then compared these findings to the perceptions of Chicago area principals regarding educational malpractice liability due to misfeasance (mistaken actions) or nonfeasance (acts omitted).…

This paper investigates the problem of developing judicially sound and workable standards for dismissing incompetent teachers. Numerous cases are cited to support the contention that there is a desperate need for stable standards of performance that will have the qualities necessary to withstand judicial scrutiny: (1) required teacher knowledge,…

The focus of this guide is on primary and secondary education law, both public and private. The guide is designed to assist the inexperienced education legal researcher through an efficient research process, making use of the variety of legal resources available in today's law libraries. The guide's introduction offers a brief overview of…

Discusses cases involving a nontenured high school coach's firing, state-mandated competency testing, and civil rights of public employees. (KS)

The two papers in this document focus on two different major educational reforms and their continuing central issues in California's comprehensive school finance legislation of 1981. The first report, "The Waiver Process for California's Educational Code," by David R. Pacheco, examines the legislation that delegated to nonelected board…

This study is a compendium of information regarding the policy and practice of religious education in publicly-funded schools in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, in England, the United States, Australia, and with less detail, in several countries of Western Europe. Most information was acquired from published sources, but letters…

This study examines discipline policy reform resulting from pressure that arose from a class-action suit, "Mark Stevenson v. Jefferson County Public Schools," alleging racially discriminatory discipline policies and procedures. The suit forced the school system and community in Louisville (Kentucky) to negotiate substantially revised…

Using recent establishment clause decisions concerning vocal prayer, silent meditation, and prayer groups in the public schools, this article suggests that courts have applied the seemingly consistent doctrine of the tripartite test to arrive at quite different results, based in part on extralegal sources. Two such sources are the attitudinal…

This paper reviews First Amendment federal court cases pertaining to religion in schools, suggesting that the findings reveal a judiciary uncertain of where to strike a balance between the interests of the majority and the rights of the minority. The first area discussed is public aid to private schools. The cases covered in this discussion…

The government has attempted to exercise control over nonpublic schools in a number of different ways. This paper discusses the indirect controls imposed by various levels of government on these schools and the response of the courts to these controls. It is organized by court decisions related to zoning ordinances, civil rights, and employment…

Presents a discussion of the legal context of evaluation systems upon which merit pay programs are based. Following the discussion of the law, a model merit pay program is presented. (MLF)

Asserts that it is ironic to discuss issues of control of arts education policy at a time when national and state leaders describe the public education system as out of control. Examines litigation as an "engine" or driving force of the influence and control of arts education policy from three perspectives. (CFR)

This paper describes funding formulas for the new Foundation School Program in Texas enacted under the Education Opportunity Act (H.B. 72), raises issues that have accompanied its first year of implementation, and provides preliminary data to compare prior and existing law. The state finance system, which previously distributed state aid according…