Options and alternatives for an amended reauthorization of Chapter 1 grants are reviewed. New suggestions are presented for compensatory education service delivery, eligibility, and the allocation of resources. The choices, each of which is examined in detail in this report, include the following: (1) change the methods by which non-public schools…

The educational beliefs of Supreme Court Justices in the 1980s are examined, i.e., the explicitly stated beliefs, rather than any inferred beliefs based on legal decisions. In particular, the focus is on beliefs expressed only in the major Court opinions rendered in the 1980s. Issues discussed include the definition of education, its relation to…

Sound technology policies can spell the difference between an effective website and an online nightmare. An effective web development policy addresses six key areas: roles and responsibilities, content/educational value, privacy and safety, adherence to copyright laws, technical standards, and use of commercial sites and services. (MLH)

In remote Navajo Mountain, Dine children have no formal educational opportunities after eighth grade. A U.S. District Court judge's late-1970s ruling that spread responsibility among the U.S. Government, the Navajo Nation, Utah, and the local school district has proved unworkable. Any negotiated settlement must begin with identification of shared…

Teaching ethical values is often challenged as an infringement on students' religious rights. This article addresses key questions concerning schools' legal responsibilities, courts' treatment of curriculum-related challenges based on alleged First Amendment violations, and courts' handling of teacher proselytizing or "opting out" cases.…

While recognizing high-stakes testing's value, both the "GI Forum" decision and the Office of Civil Rights guide raise questions that boards and educators should ask about the administration and consequences of their own testing programs. Methods for systematically collecting, analyzing, disseminating, and acting on test results are needed. (MLH)

The demise of "Cook v. Hudson" stems from its failure to accord proper value to public school employees' constitutional right to select private schooling for children. Unjustified school board attempts to terminate the employment of staff enrolling their children in private schools will not survive the "Pickering"…

Describes a complex court case involving a Massachusetts elementary teacher whose contract was not renewed because she was cohabiting with a suspected (but eventually exonerated) child abuser. School officials should resist the knee-jerk reaction to terminate a teacher's contract on the grounds of narrow, homogeneous community values regarding…

The "boys will be boys" era is over. Districts must take two basic actions to establish schools that are free of sexual harassment: publish a written policy and provide training for students. This article explains California Code and Federal law requirements, the value of special curricula, and the need for maintaining confidentiality,…

Sources of the crises faced by young black men lie not in the young men, but in society which portrays them as stereotypes. Social conditions are at the root of the following problems of black males: (1) lowered life expectancy; (2) risk of criminality; (3) poor economic conditions; (4) inadequate education; (5) drugs and gang violence; and (6)…

Focusing on Jefferson's and Madison's writings, demonstrates that the popular education/liberal republican democracy linkage constitutionalized by founders was real and correct. Conservative Congressional Republicans who tout their Jeffersonian and Madisonian political underpinnings should reconsider before undermining the federal role in U.S.…

The democratic imperative proclaims that an inequitable, inadequate education system is unacceptable. Exploring this imperative's implications for fiscal-equity reform, this article overviews 3 decades of legal trends in federal and state fiscal equity and educational adequacy litigation, examines adequacy's liberal ideological roots, and explains…

The "Pico v. Island Trees Union Free School District" decision affirmed students' right to receive information under the First Amendment and concluded that removing books from school libraries infringes on that right. Book removals solely to suppress ideas are open to court review in the absence of clearly established administrative…

Generally, support employees can be discharged only for statutorily created reasons, including incompetence, insubordination, immorality, and "good cause." School officials must know employees' rights under due-process and collective-bargaining rules and use objective evaluation criteria to avoid litigation and remedies for wrongful…

Discusses administrator responsibility and student rights under the Fourth Amendment. Reviews search and seizure case law in school settings, highlighting "New Jersey v. TLO,""Vernonia v. Acton," and other landmark decisions. Some experts advocate a moral or cultural ethos fostering a sense of family and community, character…