Education Law
This course should more properly be called Education and Federal Law. For the spring 2016 semester, I plan to
discuss the following areas of law – the importance of education under federal law; unequal treatment by race and sex,
including affirmative action in education; harassment of students by other students on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, race,
or disability; application of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act in the
context of education; church and state issues in education; students’ rights; teachers’ rights; standards governing permissible
responses to threats of violence by students against other students or teachers; and perhaps parents’ rights. Some topics may
change slightly as we progress through the semester, but those are my plans as of right now.
What follows is the syllabus for the spring 2015 course. Some cases may change for 2016, but this gives you a general
idea of the reading.
Prof. Gross
Class One
Importance of Education
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)(separate but equal overturned)
San Antonio v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973)(inequality of financial support by counties)
Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982)(legality of denial of education for children of
undocumented aliens)
Classes Two, Three
Affirmative Action and the use of race and sex
Race in Higher Education:
Grutter v. Bollinger, 123 S. Ct. 2325 (June 23, 2003)(diversity and application of strict scrutiny)
Gratz v. Bollinger, 123 S.Ct. 2411 (June 23, 2003)(same)
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, No. 11-345 (Supreme Court, June 254, 2013 113 S.Ct. 2411 (2013 (same)
United States brief as amicus curiae in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, No. 09-50822 (5th Cir., filed Nov. 1,
2013)
Race in Elementary and Secondary Education:
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of
Education, 551 U.S. 701 (2007)(use of race to compel integration)
Doe v. Lower Merion School District, 665 F.3d 524 (3d Cir. 2011)(same)
Gender in Education
United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996)(equal protection clause application to exclusion of women from a state
college)
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. 1681-1688 (statutory
prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs
receiving federal financial assistance)
Cohen v. Brown University, 101 F3d 155 (1st Cir. 1996)(sports under Title IX)
Communities for Equity v. Michigan High School Athletic Ass’n, 178 F.Supp.2d 805
2001)(nontraditional seasons for women’s sports under Title IX
Amendment)
(W.D.Mich.
and 14 th
Classes Four, Five
Harassment
Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998)(harassment on the basis of sex of adult)
Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999)(student on student sex harassment)
Harassment of the basis of disability.
Brief of the Untied States in Estate of Montana Lance v. Kyer, No. 12-41139 (5th Cir), filed March 18, 2013
Theno v. Tonganoxie Unified School district, 384 F.Supp.2d 1294 (D. Kan.
2005)(harassment on the
basis of sexual orientation as harassment on the
basis of sex under Title IX)
Optional reading - Department of Justice letter of findings to Tehachapi
Unified School District, June 30, 2011 (sex/sexual orientation studenton-student harassment)
Classes
Six, Seven
Education of Children with Disabilities
Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982) (legal standard)
Polk v. Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit 16, 853 F.2d 171 (3d Cir. 1988) (legal standard)
Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305 (1988) (“stay-put” provision)
Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garrett F., 526 U.S. 66 (1999) –
related services
L.B. ex rel K. B. v. Nebo School District, 379 F.3d 966 (10th Cir. 2004)( Inclusion and
Least
Restrictive Alternative)
Fitzgerald v. Fairfax County School Board, 556 F.Supp.2d 543 (E.D.Va. 2008)(discipline
manifestation hearing under IDEA)
Payne v. Peninsula School District, 653 F.3d 863 (9th Cir. 2010)(en banc)(constitutional
against school district for abuse of student with disabilities)
T.K and S.K. v. New York City Department of Education, 779 F.Supp2d 289 (S.D.N.Y
2011)(student on student bullying and right to Education under IDEA)
and
claim
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. 794-794a,
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act , 42 U.S.C. 12131-12134
K.M. v. Tustin Unified School district, 725 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir. 2013)(differentiation of rights of deaf student under IDEA
and Title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act)
Argenyi v. Creighton University, 703 F3d 441 (8th Cir.) (application of Title II of the ADA to deaf student in college)
Classes Eight, Nine
Religion and Schools
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)(mandatory prayer in public schools)
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971)(state aid to parochial schools)
Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263 (1981)( religious meeting at state university under the
Constitution)
Equal Access Act, 20 U.S.C. 4071-4074
of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226
(1990)(religious group meeting at high
school under EAA)
Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992)(prayer at graduation at public school)
Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, 508 U.S. 384
(1993)(use of public school building for religious purposes)
Good News Club v. Milford, 533 U.S. 98 (2001)(religious club meeting at public school
under the
Constitution)
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002)(public vouchers used at parochial
schools)
Walz v. Egg Harbor, 342 F.3d 271 (3d Cir. 2003)(student distributing religious gifts at school)
Christian Legal Society of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law
v. Martinez, 130 S.Ct. 2971 (2010)(student religious organization and law
school’s nondiscrimination policy)
Optional reading – Galloway v. Town of Greece, 681 F.3d 20 (2d Cir.
2012)( prayers a meeting of local town council - Supreme Court granted
certiorari and heard oral arguments this fall)
Optional reading - Morgan v. Swanson, 659 F.3d 359 (5th Cir.
2011)(en banc)(student distributing religious material at school)
Classes Ten, Eleven
Student Rights
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)(free political speech and
schoolchildren)
Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975)(suspension of students and Due Process)
New Jersey v. TLO, 469 U.S. 325 (1985)(searches of students and the Fourth Amendment)
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986)(discipline of students for indecent speech and the First
Amendment)
Pottowatomie County v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822 (2002)(urinalysis of students in extracurricular activities
Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007)(speech about drug use)
Safford Unified School District v. Redding, 557 U.S. 364 (2009)(strip search of middle school girl)
B.H. v. Easton Area School District,. 725 F.3d 293 (3d cir. 2013)(middle school bracelet stating “I [heart] boobies” for
cancer awareness)
Classes
Twelve, Thirteen
Threats by Students, Teachers’ First Amendment Rights
Doe v. Pulaski County Special School District, 306 F.3d 616 (8th Cir. 2002)(en banc)(threats of
Porter v. Ascension Parish School Board, 393 F.3d 608 (5th Cir. 2004)(threats of
violence by students)
Wisniewski v. Board of Education of the Weedsport Central School District, 494 F.3d 34
2007)(threats of violence by students)
Barr v. Lafon, 538 F.3d 554 (6th Cir. 2008)(ban of confederate flag on student clothing
Nuxholl v. Indian Prairie School District, 523 F.3d 668 (7th Cir. 2008)(students’ free
speech rights to make negative comments about homosexuality)
Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools, 652 F.3d 565 (4th cir. 2011)(suspension of student
for ridiculing fellow student outside school grounds)
violence by students)
(2d Cir.
Lee v. York County School Division, 484 F.3d 687 (4th Cir. 2007)(teacher’s right to post
material on classroom bulletin board)
Downs v. Los Angeles Unified School district, 228 F.3d 1003 (2000)(teacher’s placement of material on hallway
bulletin board)
Omokehinde v. Detroit Board of Education, 563 F.Supp.2d 717 (E.D. Mich.
2008)(application of Garcetti v. Ceballos, 537 U.S. 410 (2006) to teacher’s free
speech rights)
Class Fourteen
Parents’ rights
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925)(legality of placement of child in
religious school
Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972)(legality of state law compelling school
attendance for Amish children)
Parents United for Better Schools v. School District of Philadelphia, 148 F.3d 260 (3d
1998)(challenge to distribution of condoms by high school)
Cir.