In 2003, the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York, upheld a trial court decision that funding for public education in New York City was unconstitutional and decreed that the state needed to increase operating aid to school districts by $5.6 billion per year ("Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. v. State of New York 2003").…

Twenty-three State legislatures in 2011 considered bills to permit the carrying of firearms at their public institutions of higher education, and some public colleges in at least six states now allow weapons on college grounds or in college buildings. The lawful possession of guns on campus is a recent and limited phenomenon, but decisions by the…

This report examines the problem of school facility disparities in Michigan and the prospects of litigation to address this problem. First, the authors briefly review evidence of the important impact of school facilities on students, teachers, and communities. They then provide an overview of litigation aimed at state school finance systems across…

For over ten years, the State of Arizona has implemented an innovative statewide process for financing and building school facilities and purchasing other capital items for its schools. Spawned by an education quality lawsuit, the 1998 Students FIRST Act established the School Facilities Board, which succeeded in helping rural, suburban, and urban…

There have been many studies done and much research completed on the problem of academic dishonesty at the college and university level. However, there is a dearth of studies done on academic dishonesty as it relates to the legal issues and trends related to higher education administration. The purpose of this research is to analyze the issues,…

This publication is intended to help ensure full and prompt implementation of the improvements in the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act for children being raised by grandparents and other relatives. It was prepared by 18 organizations, many of whom have been working individually and together for a number of years to…

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution holds that states must provide due process and equal protection to those with a life, liberty, or property right. College students have a property and liberty interest in the public education that they receive and the courts require notice and hearing before a deprivation of one of these…

Over the past thirty-five years, federal courts have dramatically retreated from actively promoting school desegregation. In the meantime, state courts have taken up the mantle of promoting the vision of educational equity originally articulated in "Brown v. Board of Education". "Courts and Kids" is the first detailed analysis of why the state…

Since the late 1980s, state court judges in over twenty states, deriving their authority from the education clauses of their respective state constitutions, have struck down school finance systems as not "adequate." Pointing to evidence of unacceptable student achievement outcomes, especially among poor and disadvantaged students, advocates of…

Gaps in early learning are starkly apparent among differing children even before they enter kindergarten. So, a rising number of states are trying to narrow initial achievement disparities by expanding access to quality preschool. At the same time, recent findings show that preschool is not a lasting inoculation: its benefits fade if children move…

"Adequacy lawsuits" have emerged as an alternative strategy in pursuit of improved public education in America. Plaintiffs allege insufficient resources to provide students with the quality of education promised in their state's constitution, hoping the courts will step in and order the state to increase its level of aid. Since 1980, 45 of the 50…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how courts deal with issues related to the broad definition of free appropriate public education (FAPE) as it pertains to the least restrictive environment (LRE) for the provision of special education services as legislated though the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Supreme Court…

As the 3,919 students who participated in the first year of Indiana's new, wide-reaching school voucher program near the end of the first semester in their new schools, the program faces its next challenge: A state court hearing opened on Dec. 19 on a lawsuit arguing the program violates Indiana's constitution. The Choice Scholarship program, one…

This study examined federal and state court decisions related to student Fourth Amendment rights following the "New Jersey v. T.L.O." ruling in 1985. There has been minimal research in judicial treatment of students' Fourth Amendment rights across regions of the country and less to what extent regional rulings implicitly or explicitly transmit…

High school exit exam requirements are affecting a growing number of U.S. students--particularly low-income students and students of color. This article examines the policy and legal landscape of exit testing policy to shed light on some of the key issues facing local school leaders charged with implementing these policies. The article first…