Few topics are receiving as much attention in the courts as sexual harassment. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered five case decisions since spring 1998. Three of the cases involved sexual harassment in employment, one involved teacher-to-student harassment, and one involved student-to-student (peer) harassment. These Supreme Court decisions resolved several important issues that had generated a range of lower court opinions during the past few years, but also raised concerns regarding the consequences of the new legal standards in terms of school district liability. This summary provides an overview of the evolving law governing sexual harassment in the workplace and in schools, with particular emphasis on the recent Supreme Court decisions and their implications for public school policies and practices. This report concludes with excerpts from "Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties," issued by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. (Contains 37 endnotes, 20 references, and 8 resource websites.) (RT)