Friday, July 15, 2011

Baron: Lawmakers Also Act On Other Education Legislation [TOPEd, 7/15/11]: And they’re off! Bills flew through the senate and assembly chambers as lawmakers wrapped up as much business as possible before leaving for summer recess on Thursday afternoon. When they return on August 15th, the docket will still be full, but the fate of some key education bills is coming into sharper focus. Here’s where they stand.

New State Law Requires LGBT History In Textbooks [San Francisco Chronicle / New York Times, 7/15/11]: Public schools in California will be required to teach students about the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans starting Jan. 1 after Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a controversial bill to add the topic to the social sciences curriculum.

District finds possible embezzlement by coaches [Orange County Register, 7/14/11]: Capistrano Unified acknowledged Wednesday that some of its high school athletic coaches may have embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars of district and parent money in an elaborate kickback scheme involving a local athletic supply company, giving credence to an Irvine couple's long-standing allegations that the kickbacks were pervasive in school districts across Orange County.

Education Issues Take Spotlight in High Court [Education Week, 7/13/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court term that ended in June produced rulings significant for the rights of children, school employees, and those who would challenge government aid to religious schools. The decisions were among roughly 10 during the 2010-11 term that involved issues of interest to school administrators, parents, or education advocates.

Fifth Circuit finds name calling and teasing did not constitute peer sexual harassment under Title IX  7/13/11: A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (LA, TX, MS) has affirmed a Texas federal district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a school district on a student’s claims of Title IX peer sexual harassment and retaliation, and violation of her equal protection rights based on peer sexual harassment.  “Reduced to its essentials, this is nothing more than a dispute, fueled by a disgruntled cheerleader mom, over whether her daughter should have made the squad." The case is Sanches v. Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District from the 5th Circuit. Read the NSBA’s Legal Clips summary of the case.

Ninth Circuit: Teacher Not Liable in Sex Between Special Education Students [School Law Blog, 7/13/11]: A Washington state teacher did not violate the due-process rights of a student with developmental disabilities who had sexual encounters in a bathroom with another special education student, a federal appeals court has ruled. The case is Patel v. Kent School District.

California law updated to include cyberbullying by students through social networking sites [San Jose Mercury News / California Watch 7/12/11]: An existing California law that gives school officials the right to suspend or expel a student for bullying another student over the Internet or by other electronic means has been updated to include bullying others through social networking websites. The law is from AB 746. Read the NSBA Legal Clip.

Investigation: Tehachapi district's response to bullying inadequate [California Watch, 7/13/11]: The mother of a deceased 13-year-old middle school student has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Tehachapi Unified School District after federal authorities concluded school officials didn't adequately respond to the gay teen's complaints of attacks and harassment. The Bakersfield Californian also has a story

Bill leaves educators feeling violated [Chico Enterprise-Record, 7/12/11]: A hastily delivered and approved education bill and the new state budget contain details that not only continued local school districts' financial uncertainty, but also infringe on local authority, according to some officials.

 9th Circuit overturns court decision in favor of school district regarding employee speech (9th Circuit, 6/24/11:  This case tests the bounds of a public employer’s right to discharge or demote an employee for taking action on a matter of public concern. “An employer may not interfere with an employee’s First Amendment rights unless there is evidence that the employee’s actions have actually disrupted the workplace or are reasonably likely to do so in the future. Simply saying that there has been or will be disruption, without supporting evidence, is not enough.” In this case, the Washoe County (Nevada) School District “produced no evidence that Nichols’s (who was an assistant to the District’s general counsel) association with her boss actually disrupted the office or her performance, or reasonably threatened to cause future disruption, the District has failed to show that its interests in workplace efficiency outweigh Nichols’s First Amendment interests. The case is Nichols v. Dancer and is from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Union: Student achievement should be part of teacher evaluations [New York Times, 7/4/11]: The National Education Association has endorsed the use of student-achievement data in evaluating teachers, but its members believe current standardized tests are ineffective and should not be factors in assessing teachers. Under the policy adopted at the union's assembly Monday, evaluations would be based on teacher practice, teacher collaboration and student learning. "N.E.A. is and always will be opposed to high-stakes, test-driven evaluations," said Becky Pringle, secretary-treasurer of the union.

Battle Erupts Over the Future of Special Education [Bay Citizen, 6/19/11]: A plan to close a small school for children with severe behavioral problems is mushrooming into a larger battle over how the San Francisco Unified School District treats special-education students.

The Prop 98 disappearing act [Thoughts on Public Education, 6/17/11]: When Gov. Brown vetoed the budget yesterday, he also halted one of the “legally questionable maneuvers” referred to in his veto message, in which legislators attempted to ignore the constitutional funding requirements of Proposition 98.
                                                       
Supreme Court Unlikely to Tackle Pledge Anytime Soon [School Law Blog, 6/15/11]: This interesting post to the School Law Blog website reviews recent court action and concludes that “recitations are likely to continue throughout much of the country for the foreseeable future.”

Justices Decline to Hear Pledge of Allegiance Challenge [School Law Blog, 6/13/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up another challenge to school-led recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance. The justices declined without comment to consider a federal appeals court decision that upheld a New Hampshire law requiring schools to set aside time daily for students to voluntarily recite the Pledge.

Appeals Court Backs Students in Internet Parodies of Principals [School Law Blog, 6/13/11]: In a major pair of decisions on the free speech rights of students in the Internet era, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday that students who ridiculed their principals online could not be punished by school authorities because the speech was created off campus and did not substantially disrupt schools.

Fensterwald: Big changes for better teachers [Educated Guess, 6/7/11]: The report commissioned by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and civil rights groups is recommending sweeping changes in the way Los Angeles Unified recruits, hires, evaluates, and pays teachers, as well as substantial changes in state laws in areas such as tenure and seniority rights that obstruct teacher effectiveness.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

His mother is responsible for arranging the rape of the teenage daughters of Orange County.
I suspect he got an "early start" and there are numerous rapes of children under 14 in this case.
He was not an "innocent" young teenager.