On 26 September 2001, the Chino Valley School District, which is approximately 30 miles east of Los Angeles, signed a negotiated agreement with the duly authorized union representing the certified employees, the Associated Chino Teachers (ACT). The agreement provided that every member of the represented unit would become either a member of the ACT…

During the 2002-03 school year, Michael B., Rebecca D., and Aldo V. were eighth-graders at the Regional Gifted Center program at the Beaubien School in the Chicago school system. In February, the Beaubien School held an annual contest for eighth-graders to determine the design for the class T-shirt. Michael was disappointed that his design did not…

This analysis of a November 2001 case in Botetourt County, Virginia, looks at whether the Fourth Amendment right against an unreasonable "seizure" or the 14th Amendment "liberty" for parents to control the care and custody of their children requires a ban on, or at least immediate notification regarding, detentions of a certain length when public…

In this era of educational choice, school accountability, research-based practices, and commercial competition--illustrated by but not exclusive to No Child Left Behind--some schools, public and private, make claims that resemble false advertising and that some parents rely on, to their disappointment and even detriment. Moreover, the laudable…

This examination of a case that is seeking to determine whether a district in Tennessee met its obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Act to provide a "free appropriate public education" to a student with autism concludes that the courts' decisions to date are already literally remarkable for several reasons. These reasons include the…

This case presents a costly lesson for teachers and for districts that include a liquidated, or stipulated, damages clause in their teacher employment contracts. Although the court enforced the clause in this case, in this well-reasoned recent decision and in most of the much older, canvassed case law from other jurisdictions, the answer to the…

In late October 2000, Franklin Scott and Nicholas Thomas, 11th-graders at a high school in Alachua County, Florida, each displayed a Confederate flag on campus. Scott did so on his pickup truck, and Thomas did so on his T-shirt. The principal, Lamar Simmons, had given each of them a warning when they had engaged in such conduct earlier in the…

Adam Coolidge lives with his parents in the Riverdale Local School District, which is in rural northwestern Ohio. In spring 1996, prior to enrolling Adam in kindergarten, his parents met with district representatives to discuss moving him from an early intervention program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). His…

In the Spring of 1998 the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools hired Dr. Pamela Settlegoode as an adapted physical education teacher for the coming academic year. Her job was to provide adapated PE to students with disabilities in three different schools and to draft individualized education plans (IEPs) in accordance with federal law. Soon after…

After being accused of sexually harassing a student, a high school math teacher in New York was suspended with pay pending an impartial hearing. The district allowed the teacher to return to his classroom to collect his personal effects, which he had kept in boxes, desk drawers, and three filing cabinets, one of which was locked. He did not…

In early 1999, the boys' varsity basketball coach for the Hazel Park School District, which is in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, unexpectedly announced his intention to retire at the end of the year. The only two applicants for his position were John Barnett and Geraldine Fuhr. After the interview process, the superintendent announced that Barnett…

In September 2002, the children of parents Latasha Gibbs, Carmella Glass, Laverne Jones, Charlene Mingo, Deborah Powell-Jasper, Eunice Staton, and Keikola Valentine were attending New York City public schools that the state education department identified as needing improvement -- in other words, failing -- under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)…

In this month's Courtside, the author will stray somewhat from his usual format of describing a single case. Instead, he will be presenting the details of two separate cases, both of which involve similar circumstances, rely on similar legal arguments, and have similar outcomes. Most important, both appear to carry the same lesson. The lessons…

In September 1997, the Ridgewood, New Jersey, school district placed J.N., then age 11, in the Windsor School, per the IEP (individualized education program) team's identification of his special needs for structure, safety, and security. As a state-approved private special education school, Windsor signed an agreement with Ridgewood for the…

Analyzes Georgia high-stakes testing case involving administrative law judge's recommendation (subsequently approved) that fifth-grade science teacher's teaching certificate be suspended for giving his students pretest copies of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Suggests No Child Left Behind Act will spawn similar litigation in the future. (PKP)