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 2 nd try  2 points if correct on 3 rd try  1 point if correct on 4 th 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 Federal Constitution  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.

State Constitutions  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  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.

Court or Case Law  Case law is generally reflected in judge- made 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  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  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 U.S. System of Courts  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  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  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  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  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  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  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.

Silent Prayer and Meditation  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.

Aid to Parochial Schools  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.

Religious Symbols  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.

School Sponsored Activities  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.

Prayer at Athletic Contests  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.

Use of School Facilities by Religious Student Groups  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.

Religious Activities and Holiday Programs  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.

Distribution of Religious Materials  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.

Teaching the Bible in Public Schools  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  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.

Theory of Evolution  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.

Use of Religious Garb by School Personnel  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.

Pledge of Allegiance  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!