Landmark cases have shaped the way present American public schools function. Because of this, one would wonder what influences brought about those landmark cases and this study shows a strong relationship between those cases and events which happened in social history. The language of those cases has also been a factor in public schools because of the varying interpretations of the landmark cases. Each administrator could draw his or her own conclusions on the interpretation of the law, which could lead to a fair degree of confusion if everyone had a different interpretation. This study not only looks at American public school law and the landmark cases, but at attitudes and preparation of Nebraska public school administrators with regard to coursework in school law. It also studies the resources available to Nebraska public school administrators and how knowledgeable they are when it comes time to use those resources. A study of various landmark cases such as "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954), "Tinker v. Des Moines" (1969), "Wisconsin v. Yoder" (1972), and "Debra P. v. Turlington" (1979) as well as the social events in history (such as the Civil Rights movement and the Evangelical movement) which inspired those cases being brought to the Court are also studied. The relevance of these cases to this study is included for reader convenience so that one might further understand the relationship between the law and American public school education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]