There has been little litigation since the Family Medical Leave Act's inception in 1993. This article highlights FMLA's scope of coverage, leave requirements, notice and verification, special rules for employees and local education agencies, employment and leave entitlements, and enforcement. Employers violating the FMLA may have to reinstate and…

Federal statutes, regulations, and major least-restrictive-environment cases provide numerous consistent principles that schools must adhere to in promoting inclusive educational practices. There are four major themes: consideration of an individual student's unique needs, presumptive right to an integrated education, educational appropriateness,…

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…

An Idaho Supreme Court decision involving a "wrongful death" by suicide signals a warning to educators who overlook their students' personal problems. The court decided that the teacher had no "assumed duty" to warn parents, but emphasized all school employees' duty to "exercise reasonable care and act reasonably in the…

Recent court decisions indicate a movement towards supporting more integrated educational settings for students with disabilities. Recent legal decisions are discussed with regard to least restrictive environment, benefits of self-contained or regular education placement, supplemental aids and services, curriculum modifications, continuum of…

Educators will be challenged to teach students to use the Internet as critical consumers. There are numerous issues, including equity (due to income, educational level, gender, urban-rural setting, and age differences), connectivity, staff training, curriculum integration, and evaluation, that have profound implications for sustaining democratic…

This overview of the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 offers guidelines for schools to ensure compliance. Sections address eligibility for Section 504 services and protections, individuals covered under Section 504, requirements of Section 504, services in public schools, and school requirements for Section 504.…

Argues that radical shifts in school governance arising from wider social, political, and economic relations challenge past notions of leadership and that the basics of socially just learning systems would be responsibility, recognition, and reciprocity. (Contains 62 references.) (MLF)

Argues that schools play an important role in fostering student retention and completion and suggests that psychological perspectives on the goodness of fit between students and the school environment should be used to guide school reform efforts. Reviews aspects of schooling associated with dropout and selected reform initiatives that restructure…

Discusses school safety in this era of violence, presenting a public health model of prevention as it applies to the problem of youth violence, discussing causal factors known to be associated with violence and aggression, and examining practical strategies that can be incorporated into existing teacher education programs for addressing violence…

Positive rites of passage are sorely lacking in today's society. In our culture, teenagers experience several passages: the major transformation at puberty, a challenging transition from middle to high school, and completion of high school. Two programs show how educators can guide students from adolescence to responsible adulthood. (MLH)

Many school administrators want to develop profiling procedures to identify violence-prone students before bullets start flying. Warning signs (chronic depression, anger, abusive home conditions, violent history) are a staring point. Two FBI agents recommend visiting classrooms, identifying troubled kids, and ensuring that they get help. (MLH)

Reports on a survey of 177 law schools which identified widespread institutional indifference to plagiarism and large disparities in law schools' definitions of and punishments for plagiarism. Finds law schools have failed to teach students the rudiments of proper attribution and offers a definition of plagiarism, suggested disciplinary sanctions,…

This article provides an overview of the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), both civil rights laws that require schools to provide eligible students with equal access to a free, appropriate education and to extracurricular activities. Actions schools can take to ensure…

This paper draws attention to a knowledge gap in leadership models regarding bullying, particularly cyberbullying, an emergent form of student harassment. Given that parents are suing schools for failing to protect victims of bullying, educators need guidance in addressing harassment and discriminatory discourse in popular youth culture. The focus…