School Law
5:30
Welcome and Introductions, Ice Breaker
5:45
Syllabus, expectations, materials
6:15
Assessment on chapters 1 & 2
6:35
Ch 1
7:00
Break
7:15
Ch 2
7:45
Group work (cases at end of Chapter 2)
8:15
Discussion
8:30
Adjourn

Introduce Yourself
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Name
Where you work
Your position
Your goal
Where you are in program (75 or MAEA)
Expectations; what you hope to gain from EDU 608
Any incident with school law that has concerned
you




Outline of Course
Expectations
Materials
Questions?

Take by yourself





Discuss as a group
4 points if correct on first try
3 points if correct on 2nd try
2 points if correct on 3rd try
1 point if correct on 4th try
Legal Framework Affecting
Public Schools


The Bill of Rights represents a primary
source of individual rights and freedoms
under the U.S. Constitution.
The first 10 amendments to the
Constitution are viewed as fundamental
liberties of free people because they place
restrictions on the government’s powers to
intrude on the fundamental rights of all
citizens.


These restrictions simply mean that the
government cannot exercise certain powers
in relationship to free people.
For example, the government cannot pass
laws prohibiting the freedom of speech.



The Constitution of the United States is the
basic law of the land.
It provides a framework of law in which
orderly governmental processes operate.
The Constitution thus becomes the primary
source of law.


All statutes enacted at the federal, state
and local levels as well as state
constitutions and local regulations and
ordinances are subordinate to the
Constitution.
The Federal Constitution is distinguishable
in its provision to protect fundamental
rights of all citizens of the United States.


Inherent among these rights are those
involving personal, property and political
freedoms.
Although the Constitution does not make a
reference to education, it does impact the
operation and management of schools,
particularly with respect to amendments,
which protect the individual rights of
students, faculty and staff.

Based on the Tenth Amendment of the
federal Constitution, powers not delegated
to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are
reserved to the states respectively.


State constitutions represent the basic
source of law for individual states and
generally require legislative bodies to
perform various functions including
establishing systems of public education.
They prescribe funding and operational
schemes for public schools.

State constitutions may exceed coverage
granted by the Federal Constitution but
may not fail to meet the basic requirements
of the Constitution or contradict it in any
manner.



Statutes represent an act of the legislative
branch of government.
Statutes are the most abundant source of
law affecting public schools.
School district policy, rules and regulations
are generally based on statutory law.


Statutes represent the most effective means
of developing new law or changing old
laws.
State legislators grant local school boards
the authority to adopt and enforce
reasonable rules and regulations necessary
for the operation and management of
schools.


Case law is generally reflected in judgemade or common law, as distinguished
from statutory law.
Common law consists of the judgments,
opinions and decisions of courts adopting
and enforcing preceding usages and
customs called precedents.



State Boards of Education are administrative
agencies created by the state legislature.
They determine, to some degree, the
direction of education in the state.
Public schools are placed under the control
of State Boards of Education.

State Boards may develop policies covering
areas such as health and safety, teacher
licensure requirements, graduation
requirements, and others that are relevant
to the educational needs of their state.


Local school boards impact education
policy and the administration and
supervision of public schools within their
district.
Their broader role involves the formulation
of school district policy which must be
consistent with state statute.

These policies may be accompanied by
rules and regulations that provide direction
for the operation of schools.


The judicial system consists of federal and
state courts.
The organization of the courts at both
levels is essentially the same: trial courts,
intermediate courts of appeal and the
highest court or Supreme Court.


Federal courts typically deal with cases
involving federal or constitutional issues
(“federal questions”) or cases in which the
parties are residents of different states
(“diversity of citizenship”).
The Federal Court System includes District
Courts, Appellate Courts and the Supreme
Court.



There are 95 federal district courts in the
United States.
At least one federal court is found in each
state.
Larger states such as New York and
California have as many as four federal
courts.


Federal courts usually hear cases between
citizens of different states and cases
involving litigation of federal statutes.
Federal Appellate Courts are represented by
Circuit Courts of Appeal.

There are 13 federal circuit courts including
11 with geographic jurisdiction over a
number of states and territories, one for
the District of Columbia and another
involves three specialized federal courts.

The primary function of the Appellate Court
is to review the proceedings of lower courts
to determine if errors of law (as opposed to
facts) were committed, such as procedural
irregularities, constitutional
misinterpretations or inappropriate
application of rules of evidence.


State courts are a part of each state’s
judicial system with the responsibility of
hearing cases involving issues related to
state constitutional law, state statutes, and
common law.
Many education cases are heard in state
courts, because they do not involve a
federal question.



Courts of general jurisdiction are often
referred to as district or circuit courts.
Their jurisdiction covers most cases except
those held for special courts.
In many instances, decisions may be
appealed from these courts to intermediate
appellate courts or even to the state
supreme court.

Courts of special jurisdiction were
established to hear legal disputes in special
matter areas. They are generally referred to
as trial courts with limited jurisdiction and
may be called municipal, justice of the
peace, probate, small claims, and traffic
courts.


Intermediate appellate courts have emerged
over the past three decades to hear appeals
from trial courts or certain state agencies.
Their primary role involves reviewing
proceedings from trial courts to determine
if substantive or procedural errors occurred
in applying the law.



The Supreme Court is the highest court in
the land.
Unlike lower courts, there is no appeal
beyond the decision of this court.
The Supreme Court’s ruling can only be
overturned by an amendment to the Federal
Constitution.



Nine justices, including a Chief Justice
comprise the High Court.
To avoid political infringement, they are
appointed to life terms.
Cases reach the Supreme Court primarily in
two ways—on appeal and by writ of
certiorari.
Religion and the Public Schools


The First Amendment serves as the basis
for delineating certain individual religious
rights and freedoms, as well as
governmental prohibitions regarding
religion.
The First Amendment to the United States
Constitution states:

“Congress shall make no laws respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble
and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.”

While the initial intent of the First
Amendment prohibited Congress from
making laws supporting religion or
prohibiting the rights of individuals to
exercise their religious rights, the United
States Supreme Court, in a compelling
decision, Cantwell v. Connecticut, held that
this prohibition aimed at Congress also
applied to the States as well.


The First Amendment contains two
essential clauses regarding religion--the
establishment clause and the free exercise
clause.
The establishment clause prohibits the
state from passing laws that aid a religion
or show preference of one religion over
another.


The free exercise clause prohibits the state
from interfering with individual religious
freedoms.
The combined effect of these two clauses
compels public schools as state agencies to
maintain a neutral position regarding
religious matters in their daily operations.

The U.S. Supreme Court held in the
Schempp and Murray cases that school
speech and Bible reading is
unconstitutional.

The United States Supreme Court, in 1985,
responded to silent meditation and prayer
by ruling in the Wallace v. Jaffree case that
a period of silence set aside for meditation
or voluntary prayer in the public school is in
violation of the First Amendment.

In cases where evidence reveals that the aid
directly benefited the child rather than the
parochial school, courts have been
permissive in allowing certain types of aid
under the “child benefit theory.”


This theory is valid if parochial children are
the primary beneficiaries of a public
supported service provided for all children.
Conversely, if the aid serves to primarily
benefit parochial schools, it will be deemed
impermissible and a violation of the First
Amendment.


The Lemon v. Kurtzman and Early v.
Dicenso cases are perhaps the most
significant early cases involving state aid to
parochial schools.
These cases arose when Rhode Island and
Pennsylvania laws providing assistance to
parochial schools, their students and
teachers were challenged by various
citizens and taxpayers.

The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently held
that a law providing a state subsidy for
nonpublic school teachers’ salaries is
unconstitutional, even when the funds are
paid only to teachers of secular subjects.


Public schools may not display religious
exhibits or other visual materials.
It may be appropriate, however, for public
school teachers to acknowledge and
explain the various holidays of all cultural
and religious groups as a unit in cultural
heritage or some other related subject, as
long as a secular purpose is served.


Commencement exercises and any type of
school sponsored prayer at athletic
contests is deemed to be a violation of the
First Amendment.
The principle of neutrality mandates that
public schools remain neutral in all matters
relating to religion.

Prohibition of prayer at school events was
given a major thrust when the U.S. Supreme
Court in a 6 to 3 ruling in Santa Fe
Independent School District v. Jane Doe
banned student led prayer at athletic
contests, graduations and other school
sponsored events.

Congress attempted to address facility use
when it passed the Equal Access Act in
1984 for the expressed purpose of
providing student religious clubs equal
opportunities to access high school
facilities as other non-curricula clubs
enjoyed.


Under federal statute, it is unlawful for any
public secondary school that has created a
“limited open forum” to deny access to
student-initiated groups on the basis of
religion, political or philosophical content of
their speech.
A limited open forum exists when an
administrator allows one or more non-curricula
related student groups to meet on school
premises during non-instructional time.


The observance of holy days by public
school is clearly an unconstitutional activity,
if conducted in a devotional atmosphere.
The First Amendment prohibits states from
either aiding religion or showing preference
of one religion over another.



Public schools may not celebrate religious
holidays.
There should be no worship or devotional
services, religious pageants or plays of any
nature held in the school.
However, certain programs may be
conducted, if a secular purpose is clearly
served.


Public school personnel are not permitted
to distribute religious materials on school
premises.
Such practice would be a clear violation of
the Establishment Clause.


Public school officials also may not allow
religious groups to distribute religious
materials on school grounds.
Support of such practices would suggest
that the school embraces religion and could
suggest preference of one religion over
another.


The Bible may be taught in public schools if
it is not offered for religious purposes.
It may be taught to facilitate an
understanding of the best literary works,
historical works, as well as contemporary
speech and writing.

Bible teaching may not be associated with
any form of worship and must be taught
objectively as a component of a secular
program.

Intelligent design is a controversial concept
which suggests that certain features of the
universe, including living things, exhibit
characteristics of a product derived from an
intelligent cause rather than natural
selection.


Supporters of this theory believe that the
ultimate designer of living things is God.
A district court held that it is
unconstitutional to teach intelligent design
in public schools.


Evolution theory suggests that all life is
related and has descended from a common
ancestor.
Historically, this theory had been banned
from public school curriculum based on the
view that it conflicted with the biblical
version of creation.

In recent times, the U.S. Supreme Court
prevented lawmakers from banning it in
holding that evolution is a science rather
than a secular religion.


The wearing of religious garb by public
school teachers raises the issue as to
whether such dress creates a sectarian
influence in the classroom.
Many state statutes prohibit public teachers
from wearing religious garb in the
classroom.


In the West Virginia v. Burnette case, the
U.S. Supreme Court held that public school
officials may not require students to salute
and pledge allegiance to the flag.
It must be strictly voluntary.


Divide into two groups
Read the cases and work them out
Choose:
◦ Facilitator
◦ Recorder
◦ Time Keeper /Process Observer


Discuss the cases, use text, IL School Code
and School Law Survey to assist you
Report


Concerns?
See you next week!