DOCUMENT RESUME ED 464 417 EA 031 655 AUTHOR LaMorte, Michael W. TITLE School Law: Cases and Concepts. Seventh Edition. ISBN ISBN-0-205-34284-1 PUB DATE 2002-00-00 NOTE 486p. AVAILABLE FROM Allyn & Bacon, A Pearson Education Company, 75 Arlington Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02116 ($96). Tel: 800-666-9433 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.ablongman.com. PUB TYPE Books (010) Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF02/PC20 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Civil Liberties; Constitutional Law; *Court Litigation; Due Process; Educational Finance; Elementary Secondary Education; Federal Government; Federal Legislation; Governance; Legal Problems; *Legal Responsibility; *Public Schools; School Desegregation; *School Law; State Church Separation; State Government; Student Rights; Teacher Rights ABSTRACT This book examines the sizable body of school law that outlines legally defensible decisions. A substantial part of it contains edited, reported, and verbatim decisions. Historical perspective is provided, as well as specific case and statutory law. Chapter 1 discusses sources of law for educators, state school board policies, attorneys-general opinions, and local school board policies. Chapter 2 examines the extent of a state's and local school system's authority. Chapter 3 considers student interests, including freedom of expression, discipline, privacy, appearance, pregnancy, and marriage. Chapter 4 examines teacher-related issues including nonrenewal and dismissal, freedom of expression, academic freedom, protesting, teacher bargaining, and political activities. Chapter 5 provides historical perspective for the issues of desegregation. Chapter 6 addresses the legal status of individuals with disabilities. Chapter 7 provides a historical perspective for legal attacks on the financing and adequacy of state school-finance plans. Chapter 8 addresses the extent of a school districts' liability for damages. Appendices provide additional information enabling the reader to analyze court decisions, engage in legal research, or find educational law material on the Internet. Relevant sections of the U. S. Constitution and amendments, edited federal statutes significant to educators, and a glossary are also provided. (RKJ) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. L U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0.011-7is document has been reproducedas received from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY nl.Rozabiski BEST COPYAVAILABLE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 ki) SEVENTH EDITION SCHOOL LAW Cases and Concepts MICHAEL W. LA MORTE ALLYN AND BACON BostonLondon TorontoSydneyTokyoSingapore 3 Series Editor: Arnis E. Burvikovs Editorial Assistant: Matthew Forster Production Coordinator: Susan Brown Marketing Manager: Kathleen Morgan Editorial-Production Service: Matrix Productions Cover Administrator: Kristina Mose-Libon Composition Buyer: Linda Cox Manufacturing Buyer: Julie McNeill Copyright © 2002, 1999, 1996, 1993, 1990, 1987, 1982 by Allyn & Bacon A Pearson Education Company 75 Arlington Street Boston, MA 02116 www.ablongman.com All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the copyright owner. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data La Morte, Michael W. School law : cases and concepts / Michael W. La Morte.-7th ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-205-34284-1 1. Educational law and legislationUnited StatesCases. I. Title. KF4118 L25 2001 344.73'07dc21 2001018205 Printed in the United States of America 1098 75432 1 0504030201 ISBN 0-205-34284-1 9780205 342846 Dedication This book is dedicated to my grandfather, Heinrich Schroeder, the only truly politically brave person I have ever known personally. As a young boy living in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, I saw him constantly standing up to the Nazi regime by engaging in conduct that was not allowed by the au- thorities. This included clandestinely listening to the shortwave radio, publicly speaking up against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, and refus- ing to salute the swastika or greet people with the mandatory "heil Hitler." It should be remembered that this defiance took place during a period when Jewish or politically suspect neighbors disappeared and no one would dare inquire about their disappearance and when a young boy like me was questioned by the gestapo about his grandfather's activities. My grandfather refused to conform to the demands of a despotic to- talitarian regime and, as a result, although he was not a Jew, he was sent to a concentration camp. This incarceration was a high price to pay for stand- ing up for his political beliefs. His example instilled a lifelong respect in me for the importance of living under the rule of law. Instilling students with this notion should be every educator's goal. It is my hope that the information contained in this book will assist educators in that pursuit. Contents Table of Cases xiii Preface xxiii A Note to Users of This Text xxvii 1 Educational Governance: Sources of Law and the Courts 1 I.Sources of Law 3 A.Federal Level 3 1. Constitution and Amendments 3 a.Historical Perspective 3 b.Due Process and Equal Protection 5 (1)Due Process 6 (2)Equal Protection 8 2.Statutes 9 3.Case Law 10 4.Executive Orders and Attorney General Opinions 11 B.State Level 11 1. State Constitutions 11 2.State Statutes 12 3.Case Law 12 4.State Board of Education, Chief State School Officer, and State Department of Education 13 5.Attorney General Opinions 13 C.Local Level 14 II.The American Judicial System 14 A.State Court Systems 15 B.Federal Court System 16 1. District Courts 16 2.Courts of Appeals 16 3.Supreme Court 16 v 6 vi Contents 2 Schools and the State 19 I.Compulsory Attendance 19 A.Satisfied by Parochial, Private, or Home School Attendance 19 Pierce v. Society of Sisters 20 Notes and Questions 22 B. Regulation of Nonpublic Schools 24 C. Home Instruction 25 D.Admission Issues 28 II.Religion in the Schools 29 A.School-Sponsored Prayer and Bible Reading 29 1.Recitation of a State Prayer 30 Engel v. Vitale 30 2.Prayer and Bible Reading 35 School District of Abington Township v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett 35 Notes and Questions 38 3.Prayers at Graduation Exercises and other Public School-Sponsored Activities 44 a.Prayer at Graduation Exercises 44 Lee v. Weisman 44 Notes and Questions 54 b.Prayer at Other Public School Activities 56 B. Equal Access 58 C.The Teaching of Evolution 61 Edwards v. Aguillard 61 Notes 65 D.Textbooks 66 E.Distribution of Religious Literature 68 F. Released and Shared Time and Religious Instruction 69 G.Religious Holidays 70 H.Suggested Guidelines Regarding Religion in the Public Schools 71 III.Use of Facilities 74 Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District 75 Notes and Questions 79 IV.Aid to Nonpublic Schools 82 V. School Fees 86 Hartzell v. Connell 86 Notes and Questions 89 VI.Health Services 90 A.Immunization 90 Berg v. Glen Cove City School District 90 Notes 92 B.Distribution of Condoms 93 7 Contents vii 3 Students and the Law 95 I.Freedom of Expression 96 A.The Tinker Doctrine 96 Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District 96 Notes 103 B. Limiting the Tinker Doctrine 105 1.Nonpolitical Speech 105 Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser 105 Notes 110 2.School-Sponsored Expressive Activities 110 Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier 111 Notes and Questions 115 C.Participation in Patriotic Exercises 117 Sherman v. Community School District 21 117 Notes and Questions 118 Suspension, Expulsion, and Disciplinary Transfer 120 A.Suspension 120 Goss v. Lopez 120 Notes and Questions 127 B. Expulsion 128 1.Public School Expulsion 128 Gonzales v. McEuen 128 Notes and Questions 131 2.Private School Expulsion 133 Allen v. Casper 134 Note 136 C.Disciplinary Transfer 137 III.Corporal Punishment 137 Ingraham v. Wright 138 Notes and Questions 142 IV.Search of Students and Lockers 143 A.Student Search 145 New Jersey v. T.L.O. 145 Notes and Questions 150 B.Search for Drugs and Weapons 150 C.Intrusive Search 152 D.Locker Search 154 V. Student Appearance 155 A.Dress 156 B.Uniforms 158 C.Grooming 160 VI.Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Marriage 162 VII.Participation in Extricurricular Activities 163 8 viii Contents A.Legal Status of Extracurricular Activities 164 Palmer v. Merluzzi 164 Notes and Questions 167 B.Athletics 168 1.Married Students 169 Beeson v. Kiowa County School District RE-1 169 Notes and Questions 171 2.Gender Equity 171 VIII.School Punishment for Out-of-School Offenses 173 4 Teachers and the Law 176 I.Nonrenewal and Dismissal 176 Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth 177 Notes and Questions 181 II.Freedom of Expression 183 A.Tenured Teacher's Public Expression 184 Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205 184 Notes 188 B. Nontenured Teacher's Freedom of Expression 190 Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle 190 Notes 194 III.Academic Freedom 194 A.Appropriate Material 195 Fowler v. Board of Education of Lincoln County 195 Notes and Questions 199 B.Political Speakers 204 Wilson v. Chancellor 204 Questions 209 IV Drug Testing 209 V. Personal Appearance 211 East Hartford Education Association v. Board of Education of Town of East Hartford 211 Notes and Questions 215 VI.Teacher as Exemplar 215 A.Homosexual Teacher 216 Gaylord v.