These hearings transcripts present testimony regarding parents' and schools' roles in teaching values to school age children, the federal funds involved in values education, and the remedies available to parents who may object to or be offended by some of the topics taught and the vehicles used to teach these topics. Witnesses included: (1)…

Explores the opinions of Justice Rehnquist in issues concerning religion and public education; observes that the Supreme Court appears just one vote away from shifting church/state issues to the local level; and urges those concerned with constitutional values and public education to reexamine the Bill of Rights. (MLF)

Describes judicial attitudes toward the needs of linguistic minorities in the 1960s and 1970s and the shift during the last decade from mandating national standards to emphasizing local community discretion. Explores the implications for the national-value/community-value distinction for bilingual education and for current controversies concerning…

Business partnership with public schools, while holding great promise for educational improvement, is hindered by legal questions about equity. Disagreement on how to apply this value to education has produced much litigation over school finance. Some allege that property tax financing violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth…

The "pig in the parlor" refers to a growing area of censorship. In this paper, "parlor" stands for public schools, and "pig" for speech that need not be protected if it occurs at an inappropriate time or place, i.e., if such speech is not considered to bear the "imprimatur" of the schools. A review of the…

Focusing on what policymakers cannot do, rather than on what they should do, this booklet explores the constitutional parameters of the teaching of moral values. Section 1 provides a description of the general rules for legal analysis followed by the courts when dealing with freedom of speech or religion. In the following two sections, these rules…

Demonstrates how the legal, educational, and technical determination of adequacy is a process of social construction. Identifies the social values of accountability, responsibility, and community as underpinning the societal consensus building around the concept of a "minimally adequate education." At present, educational reform does not…

Recent court decisions concerning school board actions regarding the use of instructional materials indicate substantial deference to the judgment of the school administrators and board members. As long as boards act for a valid educational purpose, they have increasing freedom to decide the inculcation of values is more important than…

Focuses First Amendment claims within the public schools: (1) claims of students to free expression; (2) right of students to receive information; (3) right of teachers to use materials and teaching methods of choice; and (4) right of parents to have their children exempted from assertedly objectionable materials. (MLF)

In "Mozert," fundamentalist parents claim that the reading curriculum interfered with their right to transmit religious values to their children. The district court fashioned an excusal scheme; however, the Sixth Circuit reversed this decision. Reviews the facts, analyzes points of law left unresolved, and discusses the broader…

These curricular standards for music education in Kansas were created to inspire all students and teachers to press toward excellence and creative confidence in music to become independent, wise, and humane individuals throughout their lives. The purpose of the Kansas Music Education Standards is: to strengthen music education in Kansas; bring…

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…

This booklet contains the legislative materials relating to family life education enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia in the 1987 session. The Virginia Board of Education was charged to develop standards of learning and curriculum guidelines for a comprehensive, sequential family life education curriculum in grades K through 12.…

This publication covers the U.S. House of Representatives June 25, 2002, hearing on building character education through the "First Tee" program in U.S. public schools. The First Tee is a youth character-building organization with programs located throughout the country. It provides young people of all backgrounds the opportunity to…

The material presented in this compilation constitutes a second supplement to Bulletin, 1915, No. 47, "Digest of Stage Laws Relating to Public Education," the first such supplement having been embodied in Bulletin, 1918, No. 23, "State Laws Relating to Education, Enacted in 1915, 1916, and 1917." The period covered extends from…