California School Law

2011-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

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 5^th 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.

9^th Circuit overturns court decision in favor of school district regarding employee speech (9^th 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 9^th 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.

2011-06-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

California school funding analysis finds disparity [San Francisco Chronicle, 6/5/11]: State lawmakers have struggled for decades to bring equality to how school districts are funded, yet some districts receive thousands more per student than others, a California Watch analysis has found. And the data show spending more provides no assurance of academic success. Read the California Watch study. Analyze the data.

Study shows some East Bay districts get bigger bang for their bucks than others [Contra Costa Times 6/5/11]: In the East Bay, school spending and academic achievement vary widely, with some districts appearing to get more bang for their bucks than others. The reasons for the disparities are complex, district officials say. Yet most agree that spending more doesn't necessarily guarantee higher Academic Performance Index, or API, scores, while spending less doesn't always mean students will fare poorly.

Door opens for major reform of school finance [California Watch, 6/3/11]: In a notable display of bipartisan support, the state Assembly approved potentially landmark school financing legislation by a 74-2 vote this week. The vote reflected an overwhelming consensus on the need to reform the way schools are funded,

Assembly: Yes, fix school funding [Educated Guess, 6/3/11]: A bill that would become the foundation for restructuring the state’s K-12 funding system passed the Assembly this week with near unanimity (a vote of 74-2) – a sign that legislators agree with the concept and are willing to let important details be worked out in coming months.

N.Y. Court Upholds Rule Against Use of Schools for Sunday Worship [School Law Blog, 6/2/11]: A New York City school system rule barring the use of public schools for weekend religious worship services does not violate the First Amendment rights of a Christian church, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday. The decision is The Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York.

Fensterwald: Experiments in evaluating teachers [Educated Guess, 6/1/11]: Teachers of Lucia Mar Unified, near Pismo Beach, are a crack in the wall of resistance to overhauling how teachers are evaluated and rewarded for their performance.

Teacher and District Sued [Courthouse News, 6/1/11]: Parents say their 12-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by her 7th-grade math teacher, Steven Sande, 61, who awaits sentencing, and that Pajaro Valley Unified School District ignored previous complaints about his predations. Read the legal complaint.

Baron: The suspense is over: Local taxing authority bill heads to senate floor [Thoughts on Public Education, 5/27/11]: The wild budget rumpus is about to begin in earnest. Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s bill to give counties and school districts broader power to push for new taxes is headed to the Senate floor for a vote. SB 653 was among dozens of bills taken off the suspense file and passed Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses School Questioning Case [School Law Blog, 5/26/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sidestepped an important test of whether in-school interviews of students by the police and other authorities require a warrant, ruling that the case—involving the questioning of an Oregon girl by authorities who believed she was a victim of sexual abuse at home—was moot. However, without deciding the merits of the issue, the court set aside part of a federal appeals court ruling that the Fourth Amendment required investigators to have a warrant or parental consent before interviewing students in school. The decision is Camreta v. Greene.

Scholar: Courts Ill-Equipped for School Reform [School Law Blog, 5/25/11]: Efforts to use the courts to reform public education have largely been a failure, says a political scientist who has closely studied school litigation. You can read the draft report.

Arizona judge narrows scope of FERPA “education records” in Tucson shooter Loughner’s case [Student Press Law Center, 5/20/11]: If we are not already at the point where it is an act of legal malpractice for an attorney to advise a college to defy a public-records request for anything other than academic-related records, then we are awfully close. The weight of legal authority that FERPA does not say what most school and college attorneys believe it says (or would like it to say) has become overwhelming. In just the past six months, court after court has rejected the view advanced by some in the Department of Education that any cocktail napkin scrawled with the name of a student qualifies as a FERPA education record. Read the decision by the Superior Court judge in Arizona in Phoenix Newspapers v. Pima Community College.

Court Backs Censorship of High School Paper's Sex Cartoon [School Law Blog, 5/18/11]: A New York State school district was on solid legal ground when it barred a high school student newspaper from publishing a sexually explicit cartoon, a federal appeals court (the 2nd Circuit) has ruled. The case is R.O. v. Ithaca City School District. On page 18 of the exhibits, courtesy of the “How Appealing” blog (http://howappealing.law.com/), you can find the cartoon in question. The Student Press Law Center has a press release about this decision.

“If you can’t beat the school board, join it.” Teenage editor is about to be his principal’s boss [Student Press Law Center, 5/18/11]: Memo to America’s high school principals: Be very, very careful whose First Amendment rights you step on. One day, you may wake up and find that student editor is your boss. And that day may come sooner than you think. Aaron Brant, editor-in-chief of The Oracle at Pennsylvania’s Rochester Area High School, emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary for one of five seats on the board of the Rochester Area School District. Winning the primary equates to winning a term on the board, since only five candidates will be on the November ballot.

2011-05-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

Revised California budget softens blow for schools [Sacramento Bee, 5/18/11]: Largely because of rosier revenue projections for the coming year, budget experts at the Capitol say schools gained a cushion against cuts – even if Brown fails in his effort to extend 2009 increases to income taxes.

Teacher: ‘My employer has become my enemy’ [Washington Post, 5/18/11]: A library media educator in Los Angeles who blogs under the name Mizz Murphy wrote a powerful, first-person account of hearings being held by the Los Angeles Unified School District for teachers and others who who have received a Reduction in Force notice and are trying to keep their jobs.

Fensterwald: Big (invisible) boost in K-12 spending [Educated Guess, 5/17/11]: Gov. Jerry Brown gave K-12 school districts significantly more money, tempered by conflicting messages and sober warnings in the May Revision budget he presented on Monday.

Federal plan would expand school year – as California's shrinks [California Watch, 5/17/11]: Even as school districts around California are shrinking their school year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington is trying to push states to move in the opposite direction.

Fensterwald: Big (invisible) boost in K-12 spending [Educated Guess, 5/17/11]: Gov. Jerry Brown gave K-12 school districts significantly more money, tempered by conflicting messages and sober warnings in the May Revision budget he presented on Monday.

Baron: It’s not business, it’s personal [Thoughts on Public Education, 5/16/11]: It’s a measure of how worried and angry people are that nearly a hundred parents, students, educators, and policy makers gave up their Saturday to learn just how badly schools will be hit under Gov. Brown’s all-cuts budget, due out today, and to discuss some of the not-so popular solutions.

Oakland Unified becomes a cautionary tale for state takeovers in California [Oakland Tribune, 5/13/11]: Eight years after the Oakland school district's financial meltdown and state takeover, the local school board can't seem to shake past mistakes -- including some made by the state agency tasked with restoring its fiscal health. The story of the Richmond (now West Contra Costa County) school district is here.
Teacher layoffs out of sync with budget impasse [California Watch, 5/13/11]: Thousands of California teachers will receive final layoff notices by a state-imposed deadline of May 15, even though school districts are still in the dark about their financial status in the coming school year.

Opinion: Tobar: The disgraceful interrogation of L.A. school librarians [Los Angeles Times, 5/13/11]: If state education cuts are drastic, the librarians' only chance of keeping a paycheck is to prove they're qualified to be switched to classroom teaching. So LAUSD attorneys grill them. I've seen a lot of strange things in two decades as a reporter, but nothing quite as disgraceful and weird as this inquisition the LAUSD is inflicting upon more than 80 school librarians.

Family Claims H.S. Principal Went Ballistic [Courthouse News, 5/10/11]: A Clovis West High School student says high school officials had police arrest and interrogate him, then suspended him for 15 days for logging onto a Facebook page that parodied the school's principal. He says he didn't create the parody, and never logged onto the Facebook page with school computers, or during school hours or on school property.

Performance-based teacher layoff bill dies in committee [Los Angeles Times, 5/12/11]: California legislation calling for creation of teacher ratings for use in layoff decisions instead of seniority fails to win enough votes to move forward.

Shorter school year? [Inland County Bulletin, 5/10/11]: California's ongoing budget crisis could result in 20 days being cut from public schools' academic year. No legislative proposal exists, but Gov. Jerry Brown and school officials recently warned that shutting down school one month early - 20 instructional days - is a real possibility next year without an extension of higher taxes.

U.S. schools chief backs off on publication of teacher ratings [California Watch, 5/10/11]: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has tempered his initial enthusiasm for publishing teacher effectiveness ratings based on test scores.

Times updates and expands value-added ratings for Long Angeles elementary school teachers [Los Angeles Times, 5/8/11]: New data include ratings for about 11,500 teachers, nearly double the number covered last August. School and civic leaders had sought to halt release of the data. The Daily News has a story also.

High bar for firing kept Sacramento teacher on paid leave for 14 months [Sacramento Bee, 5/8/11]: Each letter arrived differently over the course of four years: by mail, by hand and a third by email.

Teachers Union Objects To L.A. School District's New Evaluation Plan [Los Angeles Times, 5/7/11]: The union representing Los Angeles teachers is pursuing a legal challenge to a key early step in creating a new teacher evaluation system that includes the use of student scores on standardized tests, union officials said Friday.

Pension Study: Teachers' Benefits Are Modest [Ventura Star, 5/7/11]: An economic research firm hired to produce data that could justify an expected initiative campaign to scale back public-employee pensions uncovered what its authors called a surprising finding in its report issued this week: Teachers receive relatively modest pensions and contribute a sizable chunk of their earnings to fund their retirement benefits.

Court Upholds Teacher Firing Over Computer Porn [School Law Blog, 5/5/11]: A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a Wisconsin high school teacher for accessing pornographic images on his school computer, rejecting his claims that his school district retaliated against him for teachers' union activism. The case, from the 7th Circuit, is Zellner v. Herrick.
You can read a blurb about the case from Wired.com's "Threat Level" blog (5/5/11).

2011-05-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

School free speech fight [Stockton Record, 5/5/11]: A Bear Creek High teacher is fighting for her students' freedom of speech after the school's principal requested to preview the monthly Bruin Voice newspaper prior to publication.

California weighs shorter school year as budgets wane [Sacramento Bee, 5/4/11]: Children in frigid areas have "snow day" school closures. Could students across sunny California face "budget days" in bad fiscal times?

Fensterwald: Most of 13 parcel taxes passed [Thoughts on Public Education, 5/4/11]: If the threshold for passing a parcel tax were 55 percent, as Sen. Joe Simitian and fellow Democrats in the Legislature favor, a baker’s dozen parcel taxes would have passed on Tuesday. Instead, four fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage, including two that came within 1 percent of winning.

Court of Appeal overturns Commission on Professional Competence: Soliciting Sex on CraigsList evidences unfitness to teach [School Law Blog, 5/5/11].
San Diego Unif. School Dist. v. Com. on Prof. Competence (4th District, 5/3/11): Frank Lampedusa was terminated by San Diego Unified School District which alleged that he showed evident unfitness for service and immoral conduct. Specifically, the charges were based upon Lampedusa's posting on Craigslist of an ad soliciting sex that contained graphic photos of his genitalia and anus, as well as obscene written text, that was discovered by a parent and reported to the District. The Commission on Professional Competence reinstated Lamedusa, determining that cause for the dismissal did not exist and reinstating Lampedusa's employment. The Court of Appeal overturned the Commission finding there is no substantial evidence to support the Commission's decision as the evidence shows both evident unfitness to serve as a teacher and that Lampedusa engaged in immoral conduct, either of which constituted grounds for termination.

Educating students in remote areas can be costly [California Watch, 5/3/11]: In some very small schools in remote parts of California, the state is paying about $200,000 per student to educate them.

School Districts Call in Cavalry of Consultants to Push Parcel Taxes [Bay Citizen, 4/29/11]: Bay Area school districts, facing increasingly severe budget problems, are turning en masse to one of the few revenue-raising tools at their disposal: the parcel tax.

Walnut Creek man says school ignored son's bullying [Contra Costa Times, 4/26/11]: A Walnut Creek man says bullies on a school football field injured his son -- and that the school has done little about it. Walter Yuhre's formal complaint against the Acalanes Union High School District says administrators did nothing to prevent or stop the bullying and became indifferent after it occurred.

Teach For America seeks critical mass [Thoughts On Public Education, 4/26/11]: There was a point last week during Wendy Kopp’s appearance at the Commonwealth Club of California in Silicon Valley that smacked of the sort of smugness that, I suspect, makes some veteran teachers cringe when Teach For America (TFA) is mentioned.

Districts Consider Even Shorter School Year [California Watch, 4/26/11]: The likelihood is growing that many school districts will have to cut the number of days students spend in class in response to the state's deepening budget crisis, according to state education leaders and experts.

Court Backs Discipline of Student Over Internet Speech [School Law Blog, 4/25/11]: In a case raising novel issues about student speech rights in the Internet era, a federal appeals court has upheld the discipline of a Connecticut student who had harshly criticized school officials in her Web journal.
Ken Paulson of the First Amendment Center comments. The case is Doninger v. Niehoff.

2011-04-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Agency fails to crack down on teacher misconduct, California audit says [Sacramento Bee, 4/22/11]: California lawmakers are demanding change after a state audit of the commission charged with cracking down on teacher misconduct found numerous flaws that could pose risks to children.

Over the Line Even in Berkeley, Family Says [California Watch / Courthouse News Service, 4/20/11]: A high school student says a school counselor sexually pawed and harassed her, spanking her, hugging her, asking to meet outside of school, asking "Oh, you don't sleep naked?" - harassing her so persistently that her parents had to seek a restraining order against him - but the Berkeley Unified School District told her "that the conduct was not in fact sexual harassment, as it was neither 'severe' nor 'pervasive.'" The case is reported in California Watch [4/22/11]. The NSBA “Legal Clips” has an article regarding the case.

Young: Lawmakers push schools to show what an all-cuts budget looks like [Capitol Weekly, 4/20/11]: Without new revenues, public schools can expect to shoulder at least 40 percent of the cuts needed to close the state’s $12 billion deficit, lawmakers have warned school superintendents

Justices Seek U.S. Views on Special Education Case [School Law Blog, 4/18/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the Obama administration for its views on whether a parent may bring a negligence claim against a school district that allegedly failed to identify a high school student's disabilities. Read the 2-1 decision from the Court of Appeals in Compton Unified School District v. Addison.

Budget Deal Fuels Revival of School Vouchers [New York Times, 4/15/11]: In the 11^th-hour compromise to avoid a government shutdown last week, one concession that President Obama made to Republicans drew scant attention: he agreed to finance vouchers for Washington students to attend private schools. Are vouchers coming back?

Parents of teen who died by suicide after sexting incident and bullying sue School Board [St. Petersburg Times, 4/13/11]: The parents of a girl who died by suicide in 2009 have filed a federal lawsuit against the Hillsborough School Board, claiming school officials failed to take proper steps after learning their daughter showed signs of being suicidal.

2011-04-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

Fensterwald: NCLB’s escape hatch for schools [Educated Guess, 4/14/11]: An escape hatch – the “Safe Harbor” provision under the federal law – could spare a majority of schools from the law’s penalties and the failure label.

Colorado committee to unveil complex definition of "effective educator" [Denver Post, 4/13/11]: After 13 months of meetings, a council tasked with narrowing the definition of an effective educator to one for the entire state is presenting the definition to the State Board of Education today. It is not a simple definition, though. It consists of six quality standards, including showing knowledge of the content they teach, demonstrating leadership and taking responsibility for student growth.

U.S. judge sides with middle schoolers suspended for wearing 'I (heart) Boobies' bracelets [Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/13/11]: A federal judge in Philadelphia ruled Tuesday that, when it comes to breast-cancer awareness, it's OK for middle school students to say they love "boobies." The free-speech decision was a victory for two girls who got in trouble for defying a ban at Easton Area Middle School on wearing bracelets that said "I (heart) Boobies! (Keep A Breast)." Read the ruling in H. v. Easton School District. The School Law Blog post is here. Read the story from “The Legal Intelligencer.”

Hopkins: Teach For America at 20: Add a year of training to the model [Thoughts on Public Education, 4/13/11]: This year marks Teach For America’s 20th anniversary. The nonprofit serves as one of the most prominent educational innovations in the last two decades, recruiting graduates from top universities and placing them for two years in classrooms across urban and rural communities in the United States.

Probes into teacher misconduct delayed; calm urged [Orange County Register, 4/12/11]: Orange County's schools superintendent is urging parents not to become alarmed by a new audit that suggests teachers accused of lewd and sexual acts against minors aren't being investigated in a timely manner by the state agency responsible for revoking education credentials.

U.S. Proposes New Education Privacy Rules [School Law Blog, 4/8/11]: The U.S. Department of Education has proposed new regulations on the privacy of educational records, meant to safeguard student data but also to guarantee that states may share data to help judge the effectiveness of school improvement efforts. The proposed regulations under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 were published April 8 in the Federal Register. Read the PDF file of the proposed FERPA regs. Read Sarah Spark’s discussion of the proposed rules [Inside School Research, 4/7/11].

2011-04-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Audit finds years-long backlog of investigations into accused teachers [Los Angeles Times, 4/8/11]: The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing took years to begin investigations into a teacher accused of showing pornography to children and another one who allegedly kissed a student, according to a new audit.

Teacher who evades March 15 notice loses appeal [4/7/11]: Michael Sullivan, a second year probationary teacher at Hawthorne High School knew he was about to receive a March 15 non-reelection notice and avoided receiving the written notice by March as required. He was absent from school andwas not at home to receive the certified letter. The Second District Court of Appeal ruled against Sullivan and upheld his non-reelection, even though the school district was one day late in personal delivery of the notice. Read the decision in Sullivan v. Centinela Valley H.S. Dist. (4/7/11).

Incentives or grade-selling? Line blurred in Sacramento-area cases, critics say [Sacramento Bee, 4/7/11]: Schools eager to show their smarts or raise money often give students incentives to do well on tests or participate in fundraisers. Many students can earn T-shirts or toys by raising money.

McRae: New tests for students with disabilities have wider implications [Thoughts on Public Education, 4/6/11]: For the past dozen years, California has been acknowledged as having some of the highest K-12 academic standards in the nation. However, recent changes in our assessment and accountability systems suggest that these standards have been eroded for at least one subgroup of kids in California schools.

OCR "Dear Colleague" Letter Addresses Sexual Harassment in Schools [Title IX blogspot, 4/6/11]: The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights today released a new guidance document geared to help schools, colleges, and universities understand and implement their responsibilities under Title IX to prevent and correct sexual harassment. The “Dear Colleague” letter put particular focus to sexual violence like rape and sexual assault, which are forms of sexual harassment and thus actionable under Title IX. With regards to all manners of sexual harassment, an institution's responsibility under Title IX is to take immediate action to address harassment that it knows or should know about. Read the “Dear Colleague” letter from the OCR:

Singled-out L.A. Unified teacher shares skills with colleagues [Los Angeles Times, 4/3/11]: Miguel Aguilar was cited as among L.A. Unified's most effective in an L.A. Times article on the 'value-added' evaluation method. Since then, many at his Pacoima school have adopted his methods. But budget cuts threaten his job.

California lawmakers fight over bill to teach students about gay people's contributions [Los Angeles Times, 4/2/11]: A measure proposed by state Sen. Mark D. Leno of San Francisco would require new social science textbooks to include 'a study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.'

No Breakdown on Teacher Layoffs [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/31/11]: Parents in Oakland who want to know how many teachers received layoff warnings this month, by school, can find this information in rich detail. Most districts don’t publicize this information, for fear that parents will find out that a system of layoffs based on seniority creates vast disparities, with schools staffed largely by new teachers, which are often in low-income neighborhoods, getting slammed.

Court upholds ruling on improperly fired Chicago teachers [Chicago Tribune, 3/30/11]: A federal judge's ruling that Chicago Public Schools improperly fired nearly 750 tenured teachers last summer was upheld Tuesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate court agreed that the teachers are entitled to a recall procedure and that they should be given a "meaningful opportunity" to show they're qualified for new vacancies. But CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union, which had filed the suit in protest over the termination of teachers protected by union contract, had different interpretations of the ruling. You can also read the School Law Blog posting on this case. Read the 7th Circuit decision.

Baron: California schools move closer to doomsday [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/30/11]: Gov. Jerry Brown called off negotiations Tuesday with Republican lawmakers, aimed at putting the tax extension up for a statewide vote in June, in a move that pretty much crushes any chances of sparing public schools from even deeper cuts for the next school year.

Weingarten for the Union Defense [Wall Street Journal, 3/26/11]: Teachers unions are on the defensive these days. The Obama administration is pushing various measures long opposed by the unions: charter school expansion, pay-for-performance, teacher evaluations and more. States and localities are looking to change collective-bargaining rules and scale back costly, bloated education work forces that have grown even when student enrollment was flat or declining. And Hollywood, in recent documentary films like "Waiting for 'Superman,'" "The Lottery" and "The Cartel," has highlighted how teachers unions block or stifle education reforms to the detriment of the low-income minority kids who populate the nation's worst schools. Read this interview with AFT President Randi Weingarten. Read a Contra Costa Times account of a recent Weingarten speech [Contra Costa Times, 3/29/11]:

'Value-added' teacher evaluations: L.A. Unified tackles a tough formula [Los Angeles Times, 3/28/11]: Los Angeles school district leaders are poised to plunge ahead with their own confidential 'value-added' ratings this spring, saying the approach is far more objective and accurate than any other evaluation tool available, despite its complexity.

High Court to Weigh Bias Exemption for Religious Teachers [School Law Blog, 3/28/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether a private school teacher involved in secular and religious instruction falls under a widely recognized exception to employment-discrimination laws for ministers and other church leaders. The case is Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the 6th Circuit ruling is here.

National debate continues over Bible education in public schools [Inland County Bulletin, 3/26/11]: The debate over the Bible-centered curriculum at Chino Valley Unified School District mirrors a national debate that has divided those who believe a secular study of the influential holy book is constitutional and those who think the offering of such curriculum is religiously motivated.

U.S. education secretary calls for overhaul of No Child Left Behind [Los Angeles Times, 3/23/11]: Arne Duncan, speaking in Los Angeles, urges Congress to rewrite the law to measure how much students improve on standardized tests. He also says L.A. school management and teachers union leaders should negotiate a new contract that bolsters teacher evaluations.

Report: More than 10 percent of California school districts are in financial trouble [Contra Costa Times, 3/22/11]: Nearly 2 million California students attend school in financially troubled districts, according to a report released Monday by state schools Chief Tom Torlakson.

Baron: Worser and worser [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/22/11]: In case anyone needed more evidence that California public schools are in decline, this year’s annual report on learning conditions at California high schools is aptly entitled Free Fall: Educational Opportunities in 2011. Read the report. The LA Times [3/22/11] reports also.

Note pinned to kindergartner's shirt prompts review [California Watch, 3/22/11]: The first time John Sinnott Elementary School sent the note home for the kindergartner's parents to sign, it was not returned. The second time, the note – printed on an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet of pink paper – was pinned to the student's shirt.

2011-03-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Not Exactly a Cut But Delayed School Payments Have a Cost [Capitol Notes, 3/18/11]: Among the budget-related bills approved by the Legislature March 16 was one that postpones $5.2 billion in state payments to public schools.

Baron: Hidden costs of deferrals [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/18/11]: I’m still in the hole to my teenage son for a little over $100. I promised him $25 for every A on his report card, with a $50 bonus for straight As. Oh sure, I gave him some of it; I‘m not a complete deadbeat. But I deferred the rest.

School district’s refusal to provide allergic student with a nut free environment did not constitute an actionable threat of violence or harm under California law [National School Boards Association, 3/17/11]: A federal district court in California has dismissed a claim brought by the parents of a student with a nut allergy alleging that the school district's refusal to provide the student with a nut free environment at school was an actionable threat of violence or harm under the state's civil code. Read the NSBA’s Legal Clips summary: Read the Memorandum Decision in McCue v. South Fork Union Elementary School (2/7/11, E.D. California)

Fensterwald: Robles-Wong lawyers reframe case [Educated Guess, 3/17/11]: Having had their complaints rejected the first time, two groups of plaintiffs are hoping an Alameda County Superior Court judge will look more kindly on revised arguments to have the state’s method and levels of public school funding ruled unconstitutional.

U.S. Is Urged to Raise Teachers’ Status [New York Times, 3/16/11]: To improve its public schools, the United States should raise the status of the teaching profession by recruiting more qualified candidates, training them better and paying them more, according to a new report on comparative educational systems. Read the report.

2011-03-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

Appeals court reinstates case by Muslim over scarf [The Recorder / School Law Blog, 3/16/11]: A federal appeals court unanimously reinstated a lawsuit Tuesday filed by a Muslim woman who accused Southern California jailers of violating her religious freedom when they ordered her to take off her head scarf in a courthouse holding cell. The School Law Blog also posted on this case.

Calif. Court of Appeal Clarifies Classified Employee Reemployment Status [CSEA v. Governing Bd. East Side Union School Dist. (CA6 H034866 3/15/11), 3/15/11]: A permanent classified employee contends that upon being laid off and thereafter reemployed by the district in a different, lower position, she retains her permanent status and may not be required to serve a probationary period in the new position. The Court of Appeal ruled that the statutory scheme does not support her contention. It held that such an employee’s permanent status is restricted to the position or class in which it was attained and is not retained when the employee is reemployed in a different, lower position.

As pink slip deadline arrives, more than 20,000 teachers laid off [California Watch, 3/15/11]: March 15 has become an annual ritual marked by pain and distress for thousands of California teachers who will receive pink slips by the end of the day today, or will be waiting to receive them in the mail.

Deadline for pink slips for thousands of teachers arrives today [California Watch, 3/15/11]: March 15 has become an annual ritual marked by pain and distress for thousands of California teachers who will receive pink slips by the end of the day today, or will be waiting to receive them in the mail.

Ramanathan: Districts will lay off some of their best and brightest today; that must change [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/15/11]: Kaitlin Donovan, Nicholas Melvoin, Emilie Smith, and Tyler Hester didn’t expect to get a layoff notice. They were the kind of teachers typically romanticized in Hollywood movies.

Fensterwald: Educators get schooled in politics [Educated Guess, 3/15/11]: Many offices were visited; many words were spoken; few, if any, minds were changed Monday, the Association of California School Administrators’ annual Legislative Action Day.

Union blasts state bill for teachers [Inland Daily Bulletin, 3/15/11]: Some union leaders are blasting an education reform bill introduced in Sacramento that would base teacher layoffs on performance rather than seniority. State Sen. Bob Huff, R-Walnut, proposed the bill to give school districts more flexibility to retain top educators. The San Bernardino Sun also has the story (3/13/11].

Last-in, first-out layoff policies hit some schools harder than others [Oakland Tribune, 3/15/11]: The Oakland school district has sent layoff warnings to more than one-fifth of its teaching staff. It was an extreme step, and school officials say they took it to prepare for an extreme budget scenario: the loss of as much as $900 in state funding per student, or $30 million.

2011-03-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

Court: Cross-Unit Bumping is Negotiable; No Pre-Layoff Hearing Required for Economic Layoffs [Alameda County Management Employees Association v. Superior Court (Case No. A128697 (Issued 3/7/11) [PERB Blog, 3/11/11]: In response to a budget deficit for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the Superior Court of Alameda County (Court) laid off 28 members in the bargaining unit represented by the Alameda County Management Employees Association (ACMEA). Under the Court’s personnel rules, an employee who is laid off has the right to “bump” into a position he or she previously held. However, the Court negotiated a MOU with SEIU providing that an employee loses any “seniority” for calculating bumping rights if the employee leaves his or her position for more than six months. The SEIU MOU had the effect of preventing management employees from “bumping” into the SEIU unit because the management employees lost seniority per the SEIU MOU provision.
This is the first published decision discussing pre-layoff due process hearings since the Levine v. City of Alameda (9th Cir. 2008) 525 F. 3d 903, decision in 2008. That decision created a stir because it suggested that pre-layoff due process hearings are required. However, this decision makes clear that if there is no evidence that employees are being specifically "targeted" for layoff in lieu of discipline or as a form of reprisal, then no pre-layoff due process hearing is required. Read this decision.

2011-03-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

Kerchner: Why the politics we’ve got won’t produce the schools we need [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/11/11]: Why, one might ask, should California, the headwaters of the digital revolution, be stuck in the eddies of an early 20th Century school design? The answer lies partly in culture and partly in politics. Almost all the politics of education concerns rearranging adult power and privilege. Relatively little political energy is spent consciously designing a contemporary system of public education that addresses the needs of today’s students. That should change.

5th Circuit Backs Student-Hacker Suspect's Discipline, Mother's Firing [School Law Blog, 3/10/11]: A federal appeals court has upheld the discipline of a Mississippi student who was accused of hacking into the computer system of his middle school and initiating a brief "denial of service" attack. The panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, also ruled against the boy's mother, who was fired from her job as a school secretary after protesting the action taken against her son and threatening to sue the school district. Read the decision in Harris v. Ponotoc County School District.

Teachers union wants Supreme Court to overturn layoff ban [California Watch, 3/10/11]: The biggest teachers union in Los Angeles will likely ask the state Supreme Court to overturn a recent appellate court decision blocking teacher layoffs at 45 struggling schools. Read the ACLU press release on the legal settlement.

Isolated Reference to Union Activity During Termination Not Enough To Establish Retaliation (Fallbrook Union Elementary School District (2011) 2171-E) [PERB Blog, 3/8/11]: This case involved an allegation that the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District (District) decided not to reemploy a teacher because of her activities as a union site representative. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found in favor of the teacher. However, on exceptions by the District the Board (PERB) rejected the ALJ’s proposed decision and dismissed the charge. The Board’s decision focused on whether the union had established the required “nexus” between the adverse action and the protected activity. The Board acknowledged that it could indicate anti-union animus if coupled with other facts. But here, the Board found no other facts supporting anti-union animus. Accordingly, the Board rejected the ALJ’s proposed decision and dismissed the complaint. There was a dissent in this interesting case. Read the Fallbrook decision at:

Appellate court allows teacher layoffs to go forward under new rules [Los Angeles Times, 3/8/11]: A state appellate court refused Monday to delay a settlement that would alter traditional seniority protections in Los Angeles schools, opting instead to let stand a new process that would protect 45 “vulnerable” campuses entirely from layoffs. Read Festerwald’s post at Educated Guess [3/8/11]:

2011-03-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

Sen. Huff wants legislature to tackle teacher evaluation [San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 3/6/11]: A bill by San Gabriel Valley state Sen. Bob Huff would do away with the first-in, first-out layoff policies at California school districts, a change long sought by education reform groups. Senate Bill 355 calls for districts to evaluate teachers and to use the data to lay off the worst teachers. Right now, teacher layoffs are based almost solely on seniority.

N.J. Task Force Makes Recommendations on Grading Teachers [Wall Street Journal, 3/4/11]: The administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie released a proposed rubric developed by a task force for evaluating teachers and awarding tenure and pay. The panel is suggesting that 50% of teacher ratings be based on student performance, 40% on measures of "effective practice" and 10% on other factors. However, critics of the proposed system, including teachers unions and some education experts, argue that student-testing data is unreliable and should not be used to make "high-stakes personnel decisions."

Gates challenges assumptions on teacher pay, seniority [ABC News, 3/3/11]: Microsoft founder Bill Gates challenged traditional assumptions about teacher pay, seniority and effectiveness in a speech Thursday at the 2011 TED (Technology, Education, Design) Conference. Gates questioned the $50 billion he said is spent each year on seniority-based pay increases for teachers, arguing that teacher longevity has not been shown to improve student achievement. He promoted the concept of extra pay for top teachers who agree to take on additional students.

Fourth Hacienda La Puente school district employee faces workers comp fraud charges [San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 3/4/11]: For the fourth time since January, a Hacienda La Puente Unified School District employee was arrested Wednesday night on charges of workers compensation fraud, authorities said. Warner said the cases are not related but said the high volume was due to the district's increased vigilance fighting insurance fraud. School district officials didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

Rio School District in limbo for now [Ventura County Star, 3/4/11]: Rio School District officials have not yet settled on who will lead the district after Superintendent Sherianne Cotterell goes on paid leave Friday, saying they expect to have more information next week. In a split decision Wednesday, the Rio school board announced it would terminate Cotterell's contract without cause and place her on paid leave as The story from the previous day is here.

Baron: Duncan criticizes last-hired, first-fired [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/4/11]: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called on state and local officials to be flexible and creative with federal education funds to protect students from the harshest cuts during this budget crisis.

Teachers face unprecedented challenges to their profession [New York Times, 3/2/11]: Many teachers across the country view warnings about layoffs -- along with ongoing attempts to reduce their rights, income and benefits -- as negative commentary on their value to society. The efforts, under way in numerous states, are being driven ostensibly by deep budget deficits and a broad school accountability movement. However, some say the initiatives will deter high-quality recruits from entering the profession and will drive effective teachers from the neediest schools.

School officials blast watchdog group for audit [Chico Enterprise-Record, 3/2/11]: Two school superintendents Tuesday accused the watchdog group Californians Aware (CalAware) of trying to make the public schools look bad with its Public Records Act audit.

Camp: 10 essential blogs on Cal education—no, make that 11 [Thoughts on Public Education, 3/2/11]: Many education-related organizations in California have developed blogs or email lists to keep their followers informed.

Facebook song gets Miss. student suspended, school sued [Student Press Law Center, 3/1/11]: A high school student is suing his school board, superintendent and principal after he was suspended for recording a rap song off campus that referenced allegations of inappropriate behavior by coaches with female students.

Justices Weigh School Interviews on Sex Abuse [School Law Blog, 3/1/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court today took up, in Camreta v. Greene, what potentially could be a major test involving the rights of children when interacting with the police and other government investigators in schools. But in the case over whether school interviews of children by investigators constitute unreasonable "seizures" under the Fourth Amendment, the arguments today quickly stumbled over procedural issues. On March 23, the court will take up another case involving the police and schools. In J.D.B. v. North Carolina the justices will consider whether a student interviewed at school about suspected neighborhood thefts should have been given a Miranda warning. Read Tony Mauro on the Camreta case [National Law Journal, 3/2/11].

Office for Civil Rights Posts Agreements From Investigations [Education Week, 3/1/11]: The U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights is posting agreements online that are forged between the office and school districts resulting from compliance reviews or investigations of complaints. Russlynn H. Ali, the assistant secretary for the OCR, made a point of telling me about the new method of distribution in a phone interview last Friday.

High Court Declines Student Speech Case [School Law Blog, 2/28/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear the appeal of a high school student who claimed that his free speech rights were infringed when administrators refused to let him return to school to address allegations that he had made a racially insensitive comment about another student. Read the 2nd Circuit opinion in DeFabio v. East Hampton Union Free School District:

Ex-Grant administrators sue Twin Rivers school district for jobs and back pay [Sacramento Bee, 2/28/11]: Twin Rivers Unified School District is fighting a new wave of lawsuits by six former administrators of the Grant Joint Union High School District. The two latest lawsuits were filed in January by two groups of former high-ranking Grant administrators who are demanding that they be given jobs with back pay.

Sweetwater wins lawsuit with former administrator [San Diego Union Tribune, 2/25/11]: A former Sweetwater Union High School District administrator is not entitled to additional severance pay, a San Diego Superior Court judge has determined.

2011-02-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

Weingarten proposes plan to overhaul teacher-dismissal process [New York Times, 2/25/11]: American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten announced a proposal to revamp methods for evaluating and dismissing teachers. The new plan would give tenured teachers with unsatisfactory ratings one year to improve or be fired within 100 days. However, some were critical of the proposal, saying that administrators would not have enough input and that it does not address the role of seniority in teacher layoffs.

Teacher Drug-Testing Policy Struck Down [School Law Blog, 2/24/11]: A Tennessee school district's program of random drug testing of its teachers was constitutionally flawed, a federal district court has ruled.

Patriotic T-shirt legal battle marches on [Morgan Hill Times / Gilroy Post-Dispatch, 2/21/11]: The First Amendment lawsuit over the Cinco de Mayo incident last year at Live Oak High School advanced after federal Judge James Ware refused to dismiss the case as requested by defendants the Morgan Hill Unified School District, former LOHS principal Nick Boden and former assistant principal Miguel Rodriguez.

Gender-equality lawsuit costly for Sweetwater District [San Diego Union Tribune, 2/23/11]: Superintendent Jesus Gandara asked trustees of the Sweetwater Union High School District approve an $800,000 increase to its legal services budget at the same time the South County school district is looking to close a $24 million shortfall in next year’s budget.

State teachers' pension system headed toward insolvency [San Jose Mercury News, 2/22/11]: As California school districts anticipate possibly the worst budget crisis in a generation, many will try to lighten their burden by enticing older teachers into retirement.

High Court Cases Focus on In-School Questionings [Education Week’s School Law blogger Mark Walsh, 2/22/11]: A pair of cases to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next month highlight broad questions about interactions between the police and the schools and the implications for school officials when investigators come knocking.

PERB: Poor Personnel Practices Do Not Prove Discrimination [PERB Blogspot, 2/15/11]: This case involved an employee who was rejected during probation. The employee alleged that he was rejected during probation because of protected activities, in violation of the MMBA. Specifically, the employee argued that the City retaliated against him because of comments he made criticizing his supervisor during an employee meeting. Read the City of Alhambra PERB Decision No. 2161-M (Issued 2/8/11).

2011-02-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

Ravitch: Why teachers across the country are enraged [CNN, 2/21/11]: Attacks on the teaching profession have escalated over the past two years, says author and education historian Diane Ravitch. She writes that the protests in Wisconsin are the result "of a simmering rage among the nation's teachers," brought on by attempts to tie teacher evaluations to test scores, threats to collective bargaining, widespread teacher firings and other issues. She predicts an increasing number of teacher protests, as such attacks and impending teacher layoffs continue.

Labor faces a moment of truth [Politico, 2/21/11]: Some strategists and labor officials watching the protest conflagration from the outside are beginning to fret that a large-scale defeat in Wisconsin will have a devastating ripple effect, weakening labor state by state throughout the rest of the country.

Legislation may bring pay cuts for substitute teachers [San Bernardino Sun, 2/21/11]: Substitute teachers may start to feel the effects of dwindling school budgets if legislation recently proposed by state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, becomes law. Under the law, S.B. 266, school districts could pay all substitutes the same wage, regardless of tenure, thus saving school districts millions of dollars per year, according to Dutton. Read SB 266.

Want to fix the Oakland schools? Ask a teacher [Oakland Tribune, 2/20/11]: The Oakland teachers union and the school district administration do not have an easy relationship. And yet, in the midst of budget cuts, an unsettled contract and threat of a strike, an unlikely -- though delicate -- partnership has arisen.

9th Circuit probes anti-Christian ruling against teacher [Orange County Register, 2/12/11]: A panel of three federal appellate judges Friday probed whether a Mission Viejo high school teacher who violated his student's First Amendment rights should be held financially liable for his actions, even as the judges reconsidered the merits of the case itself. During a 45-minute morning hearing, judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena grilled the two parties about whether Capistrano Valley High School history teacher James Corbett should be forced to pay attorney fees and damages, and whether he could have reasonably known he was being hostile toward religion in the classroom, as alleged. [See other posts on this case, in particular the one dated 2/17/11 below entitled "Student a 'whiny little boy,' teacher in anti-Christian case says."

2011-02-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

Court Rejects Reimbursement Over Unfunded School Mandates [School Law Blog, 2/18/11]: Times are tough, a California appellate court says, and the judiciary cannot compel state lawmakers to come up with nearly $1 billion to reimburse unfunded education mandates imposed on school districts. But in a partial victory for school districts, a panel of the California Court of Appeal said they could seek to temporarily get out of mandates not fully funded by the state. Read the decision in CSBA v. State of California.

Student a 'whiny little boy,' teacher in anti-Christian case says [Orange County Register, 2/17/11]: Capistrano Valley High School history teacher James Corbett is firing back against the student who sued him three years ago for disparaging Creationism in class, posting a series of recent comments on the Register's website in which he refers to Chad Farnan as "a whiny little boy" who didn't do his homework and whose "helicopter parents" intervened frequently in their son's affairs.

The politics of education upended [Politico, 2/17/11]: In Wisconsin, about 1,000 teachers called in sick Wednesday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to strip their union bargaining rights. In Washington, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recounted his battle with his state’s teachers unions Wednesday, calling their leaders “greedy” and “selfish.”

Unions, officials in 150 districts attend collaboration summit [Wall Street Journal / New York Times, 2/16/11]: Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged union leaders and administrators in 150 districts to collaborate during a summit in Denver this week organized by Duncan and two national unions. The event is intended to ease conflict over teachers' contracts and other contentious education-reform issues such as tenure, layoffs and teacher evaluations. Those who attended were selected by lottery and had to agree to work together on the "hiring, retention, compensation, development and evaluation of a highly effective work force."

Report: reform 'deeply flawed state education funding system [Orange County Register, 2/15/11]: California's schools have survived billions in state cuts by relying heavily one-time federal aid, but will find themselves in serious trouble next year as the aid runs out, according to a new report from the Legislative Analyst's Office.

Obama's 'Disparate Impact' Policy Draws Criticism [Education Week, 2/15/11]: Critics are challenging the U.S. Department of Education's new focus on curbing school discipline policies that disproportionately affect some student groups.

Fensterwald: LAO: Change pensions for new teachers [Thoughts on Public Education, 2/14/11]: New teachers would be among public employees whose state-financed retirement benefits would shrink under a proposal that the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office outlined last week to limit taxpayers’ future liability. Read the proposal.

2nd Circuit rejects whistleblowing custodian's appeal [First Amendment Center, 2/14/11]: High court's Garcetti ruling continues to punish public employees for speaking up, even about safety. A former custodian who warned school officials about possible asbestos in a gymnasium lost his appeal before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Read Morey v. Somers Central School District.

Obama's 'Disparate Impact' Policy Draws Criticism [Education Week, 2/15/11]: Critics are challenging the U.S. Department of Education's new focus on curbing school discipline policies that disproportionately affect some student groups.

Fensterwald: LAO: Change pensions for new teachers [Thoughts on Public Education, 2/14/11]: New teachers would be among public employees whose state-financed retirement benefits would shrink under a proposal that the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office outlined last week to limit taxpayers’ future liability. Read the proposal:

2011-02-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

Schools craft budgets in the dark -- and prepare for deep cuts [San Jose Mercury News, 2/13/11]: In what has become a fantasy-like world of school finance, school districts are scurrying to build their 2011-12 budgets, preparing for bad and worst cases

LAUSD announces potential layoff plans [Los Angeles Times, 2/12/11]: Los Angeles school officials unveiled a plan Friday to send preliminary layoff notices to more than 5,000 teachers and other staff members to help close a projected budget gap. This is the first time that the nation's second-largest district will protect some campuses that previously had been hit hard by layoffs.

An Oakland school cut its last AP course, but teachers are teaching it anyway [Oakland Tribune, 2/11/11]: The sacrifice made by these teachers and students for an opportunity that's a given in other schools illustrates their commitment to education. It also highlights the system's inequities and the shortcomings of the Oakland school district's attempts at high school reform.

Court Upholds Federal Teacher-Protection Law [School Law Blog, 2/10/11]: A federal statute meant to give teachers and school administrators protection from legal liability over their efforts to maintain safe and orderly schools has been upheld against a constitutional challenge. The case is Dydell v. Taylor.

Kerchner: Analysis of LA Times series shows pitfalls of using test scores to evaluate teachers [Thoughts on Public Education, 2/10/11]: Nearly half the rankings handed out to L.A. Unified teachers by the Los Angeles Times may be wrong. This is one of the conclusions reached by Derek Briggs and Ben Domingue of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who conducted a reanalysis of the data used by the Times in their value-added analysis of teacher performance.

Fewer young people becoming teachers; schools could be short-staffed in years ahead [Lodi News-Sentinel, 2/8/11]: Baby Boomers are retiring, and college students appear hesitant to step into those roles due to decreasing salaries, increasing layoffs and a less-than-welcoming teaching atmosphere.

On Evolution, Biology Teachers Stray From Lesson Plan [New York Times, 2/8/11]: Teaching creationism in public schools has consistently been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts, but according to a national survey more than 900 public high school biology teachers, it continues to flourish in the nation’s classrooms.

U.S. Plan to Replace Principals Hits Snag: Who Will Step In? [New York Times, 2/8/11]: The aggressive $4 billion program begun by the Obama administration in 2009 to radically transform the country’s worst schools included, as its centerpiece, a plan to install new principals to overhaul most of the failing schools. That policy decision, though, ran into a difficult reality: there simply were not enough qualified principals-in-waiting to take over.

High schools walk a tightrope in seeking funding from sports participants [Sacramento Bee, 2/8/11]: The website was clear: Inderkum High School students had to pay $75 to participate in sports. Problem was, since 1984, forcing public school students to pay to play has been against state law.

More districts shorten school year [Capitol Alert / California Watch, 2/8/11]: In the face of ongoing state budget problems, nearly three times as many K-12 districts have shortened the current school year than did so last year, according to a new survey released by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

First-of-Its-Kind Lawsuit Seeks to Improve Los Angeles School [The National Law Journal, 2/8/11]: Two firm partners have sued the Compton school district under an act giving parents the legal means to make changes to underperforming public schools. Other states are weighing similar "parent trigger acts."

Separate study confirms many Times findings on teacher effectiveness [Los Angeles Times, 2/7/11]: A study to be released Monday confirms the broad conclusions of a Times' analysis of teacher effectiveness in the Los Angeles Unified School District while raising concerns about the precision of the ratings.

Schrag: Pepperdine’s Soggy Waffle [California Progress Report, 2/7/11]: Education research, someone famously said many years ago, “is a soggy waffle.” Nothing demonstrates that better than the latest version of a Pepperdine University report purporting to show that, as one headline summarized it, since 2003 “California schools spent less in the classroom as budgets increased.” You can read the Davenport Institute Pepperdine reports.

2011-02-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Calif. parents sue school district over charter effort [AP / First Amendment Center, 2/4/11]: Six parents and their children sued the Compton Unified School District yesterday, alleging officials are trying to thwart their push to convert a failing elementary school to a charter school. The parents immediately won a temporary injunction from Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien, who blocked the district from using a complex process to verify signatures on a petition for the charter school.

Schools Tackle Legal Twists and Turns of Cyberbullying [Education Week, 2/4/11]: High-profile incidents put legal, policy issues in the spotlight but lack of clarity remains. School leaders across the country are dealing with routine cases daily and often feel they have little legal advice or precedent to guide them in their decision making.

Autism rate triples among K-12 students [California Watch, 2/4/11]: Special education students with autism in California have more than tripled in number since 2002, even as overall special education enrollment has remained relatively flat, according to an analysis of state education data released yesterday.

L.A. boy can use religious song at school talent show [AP, 2/3/11]: School district, lawyers for fifth-grader reach agreement allowing him to perform; mother had filed suit after principal said performance would violate church-state separation. Read the legal complaint.

Searches of Students Who Leave and Return to School Upheld [School Law Blog, 2/2/11]: A high school's policy of searching students who leave the campus and return during the school day does not violate the Fourth Amendment, a California state appellate court has ruled. Read the decision in In re Sean A.

2011-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

G.O.P. Governors Take Aim at Teacher Tenure [New York Times, 2/2/11]: Seizing on a national anxiety over poor student performance, many governors are taking aim at a bedrock tradition of public schools: teacher tenure. Governors in Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Nevada and New Jersey have called for the elimination or dismantling of tenure. As state legislatures convene this winter, anti-tenure bills are being written in those states and others. Their chances of passing have risen because of crushing state budget deficits that have put teachers’ unions on the defensive.

If two budgets weren’t enough, try three [Educated Guess, 2/2/11]: If two budgets weren’t enough, try three -- Not knowing what will happen in four months, most school districts are building two budgets for next year: the good one, if voters in June agree to extend $11 billion in temporary taxes, and the bad one, in case they don’t.

Fensterwald: No easy way to cut CalSTRS benefits [Educated Guess, 2/1/11]: Call it pension envy, matched by frustration over higher pension contributions that taxpayers will eventually be asked to fork over. The clamor for cutting public employees’ pension benefits has grown louder.

A Bold Idea to Stop the Pink-Slip Blizzard [San Diego Union Tribune, 1/31/11]: Year after year, San Diego Unified has grudgingly prepared for the worst based on budget plans made by the California governor. It once warned hundreds of teachers that they would lose their jobs. That threat fizzled, but not before it sent the school district into an uproar. School board members want that painful pattern to stop, and they have a risky idea in mind.

Rowland Unified wins legal case against Walnut Valley in battle for students [San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 1/28/11]: The Rowland Unified School District scored a major legal victory Thursday over Walnut Valley Unified in a case in which Rowland accused Walnut Valley of stealing students. The California 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled that Walnut Valley had already taken the maximum amount of students - 10 percent - from Rowland Unified's boundaries. Read the decision in Walnut Valley USD v. Superior Court (Rowland USD).

Families hire lawyers, sue schools over student bullying [Orlando Sentinel, 1/29/11]: More parents in central Florida and across the country are hiring lawyers and filing lawsuits against school districts when their children are bullied. The prevention of school bullying now is the subject of a nationwide campaign. The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidelines for schools on how to handle the behavior, which also may serve to help minimize future lawsuits.

Special Education Court Decisions on the Rise [Education Week, 1/28/11]: After two decades of decline, education litigation appears to be on the rise, with special education leading the way, according to an analysis from Lehigh University professor Perry Zirkel, an expert in special education law. Zirkel's paper on his findings will appear in full in an upcoming issue of West's Education Law Reporter, but he walked blogger Christina Samuels through the findings.

Student settles with Fla. district over Facebook posts [SPLC, 1/20/11]: A former Pembroke Pines Charter High School student suspended for critical Facebook postings about her teacher has settled with the school after a three-year legal battle. Katherine “Katie” Evans signed the settlement in November, in which the school agrees to remove any record of her suspension or the initial incident and pay $15,000 in attorney fees and $1 in nominal damages. The school signed the settlement in December.

2011-01-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Court of Appeal Upholds District Classification of Coach as Temp Employee [California Court of Appeal, 2nd District, 1/27/11]: A certificated teacher was hired as a baseball coach at Mira Costa High School. When relieved of his teaching job, he retained his baseball coach status. A few years later he was relieved of his coach status. He claims that he should be considered a “probationary employee” with more employments rights. The District considers him a “temporary employee,” a “walk-on” coach hired on a “year-to-year” basis. The trial court, and now the Second District Court of Appeal, agrees with the District. Read the decision in Neily v. Manhatten Beach USD.

Kerchner: Imagine teachers as free agents before adopting pay for performance [Thoughts on Public Education, 1/27/11]: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a raft of supporters in the foundation world fervently want to replace the tried-and-true teacher salary schedule with pay-for-performance schemes. They should be careful what they wish for.

Sweetwater subs told about higher paying job if they cross picket lines [San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/26/11]: In a move angering educators in both school systems, the Sweetwater Union High School District is letting its substitutes know they can collect significantly more money in National City should a strike occur there.

Fensterwald: Obama’s state of dissension [Thoughts on Public Education, 1/26/11]: One of President Obama’s sustained, bipartisan applause lines in the State of the Union address was his call for giving teachers the level of respect they get in South Korea. Applause faded when he then said, “We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones.

New penalties proposed for banned school fees [California Watch, 1/26/11]: School districts that violate the state's guarantee to a free education by illegally charging fees for classroom and extracurricular activities would have a portion of their annual budget withheld under newly proposed legislation.

New groups poised to change state education landscape [California Watch, 1/25/11]: As schools in California brace for another difficult year, new forces have emerged that are poised to reshape the education landscape in California.

Fensterwald: Seeing silver lining in Robles-Wong [Educated Guess, 1/24/11]: A Superior Court ruling narrowing the scope of two suits challenging the state’s system of funding education is distressing to those favoring more money for California schools. But while disappointed, lawyers for the cases say they’re not despondent – or ready to give in.

Teacher training schools to be ranked for first time [California Watch, 1/24/11]: Just as more teachers are facing performance rankings of their work, dozens of teacher training schools in California will be judged for the first time in a nationwide survey set for publication in U.S. News and World Report.

Education fixes now will pay off in 2025, experts say [California Watch, 1/24/11]: Policies that strengthen data tracking and improve pre-kindergarten programs are needed now to ensure the state's children are successful in the 21st century, according to a study released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Student settles with Fla. district over Facebook posts [Student Press Law Center, 1/20/11]: A former Pembroke Pines (Florida) Charter High School student suspended for critical Facebook postings about her teacher has settled with the school after a three-year legal battle. Katherine “Katie” Evans signed the settlement in November, in which the school agrees to remove any record of her suspension or the initial incident and pay $15,000 in attorney fees and $1 in nominal damages. The school signed the settlement in December. You can read the complaint filed December 8, 2008, by going to:

2011-01-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

Judge OKs settlement that limits use of seniority in L.A. teacher layoffs [Los Angeles Times, 1/22/11]: Lawyers representing students' interests hail the ruling; the teachers union says it probably will appeal. See Fensterwald: Judge resolves L.A. layoff suit [Thoughts on Public Education, 1/22/11].

The Emergency in our Schools: Questions for Tom Torlakson [San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/22/11]: In November, former state legislator and science teacher Tom Torlakson became the new state superintendent of public instruction. It is the chief education job in California and it promises to be a hard one as schools grapple with another threatened round of budget cuts.

Gov. Brown calls education funding a civil rights issue [Sacramento Bee, 1/21/11]: Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday called education funding a civil rights issue, defending his plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies as necessary to reduce California's yawning budget deficit and to push more tax revenue to schools and public safety. On the other hand, read Meira Levinson’s post, “Why Education is Not ‘The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time’” [Education Week, 1/21/11].

Rethinking Evaluations When Almost Every Teacher Gets an ‘A’ [New York Times, 1/21/11]: Grade inflation — a term normally associated with students — is widespread among Bay Area teachers, who receive so many favorable evaluations that it is impossible to tell how well they are performing, some educators say.

Should teacher misconduct cases have a 100-day limit? [New York Times, 1/21/11]: Educators accused of wrongdoing should have their disputes investigated and resolved within a 100-day window, according to a proposal developed by Kenneth R. Feinberg, an arbitrator hired at the request of the American Federation of Teachers. The plan is aimed at improving a system that has been costly and embarrassing for schools and districts, and it could be used as a template nationwide. "I think it's thoughtful and a common-sense approach," AFT President Randi Weingarten said. "I think it's fairer and I think it's faster." You can read Feinberg’s plan.

Lawsuit by La Habra teachers goes before judge [Orange County Register, 1/19/11]: A judge will decide the legality of salary freezes imposed on teachers by the La Habra City School District along with automatic deductions from teachers' paychecks to help offset a price increase in their health insurance plans.

Compton Parents: Teachers retaliating [Long Beach Press-Telegram, 1/19/11]: Two parent activists have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Office alleging they and their children have been victims of retaliation because they support a campaign to turn over a local school to a charter operator.

Justices Decline to Hear Challenge to Curriculum Guide [School Law Blog, 1/18/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a legal challenge to how Massachusetts handled a curriculum guide on genocide and human rights. A federal appeals court ruled last year that a decision by the state education commissioner to alter the advisory curriculum guide in response to political pressure did not violate the First Amendment. The Court of Appeals decision is Griswold v. Driscoll.

Lodi Unified considering its legal options [Lodi Record, 1/18/11]: An in-house attorney could save the Lodi Unified School District significant money, newly elected Board of Trustees President George Neely said, prompting the district to explore opening a legal office.

2011-01-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

With voters in charge, high anxiety about teacher layoffs [California Watch, 1/18/11]: School districts are grappling with an excruciating dilemma: whether to plan for the coming school year based on the assumption that taxpayers will approve tax increases in a special election in June, or on an equally uncertain assumption that they will reject it.

In Florida, Virtual Classrooms With No Teachers [New York Times, 1/18/11]: There are over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems. These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida’s Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002. The amendment limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs.

Young: While they’re still in training, intern teachers are not yet highly qualified [Thoughts on Public Education, 1/18/11]: The recent posting “Alternate Route, Same Destination” by Catherine Kearney presents one perspective on the recent congressional action to reestablish California’s teachers who are still in training through an alternative program of preparation as “highly qualified.”

How will Calif. schools implement "parent trigger" law? [Los Angeles Times, 1/17/11]:] California’s "parent trigger" law, which allows parents to force changes at failing schools. New members of the state's school board say they need more time to consider proposed regulations, which were set to be approved last week. Key concerns include whether parents outside a school could trigger a transformation and whether parents should be able to choose a charter operator without first gathering community input. Parents at a Compton school already have moved to turn over management to a charter

Moment of silence may be back in Illinois; State superintendent tells schools to prepare for observance [Chicago Tribune, 1/14/11]: Many school principals and superintendents were caught off guard this week when the state's top educator cautioned that they soon might need to observe a dormant state law requiring a moment of "silent prayer or silent reflection" to start the school day. In his weekly message, Illinois schools Superintendent Christopher Koch alerted school districts that the federal injunction that banned the moment of silence could be lifted in the next few days.

2011-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

Court Backs District in Disclosure of Teacher's Medical Condition [School Law Blog, 1/12/11]: The New York City school district did not violate the privacy rights of a teacher when it publicly disclosed her medical condition, a federal appeals court has ruled. Read the decision in Matson v. Board of Education of the City School district of New York.

Fensterwald: California Now 43rd in per-student spending [Thoughts on Public Education / California Watch, 1/12/11]: Praised for its high academic standards and accountability measures, dinged for its low scores on the national standardized tests, low high school graduation rates, and disadvantages of high rates of poverty and non-English speaking households, California fell squarely in a crowded, mediocre middle – 30th among the states, in this year’s annual ratings by Education Week’s Quality Counts.

Ariz. high court: Student's curses didn't 'abuse' teacher [Associated Press / First Amendment Center, 1/11/11]: The Arizona Supreme Court says that a school child must use "fighting words," not merely curse, to be found guilty of abusing a teacher. Read the decision in In re Nickolas S.
“The limited issue before us is therefore whether this case involves fighting words as defined by the United States Supreme Court. Although Nickolas insulted a teacher with derogatory and offensive words (and was suspended from school for doing so), we must vacate his juvenile adjudications because his words were not inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction by the teacher.”
The School Law Blog has posted on this decision as well.

State judge rules NYC can release teacher ratings [Associated Press / First Amendment Center, 1/11/11]: A judge ruled yesterday that New York City can release performance ratings for 12,000 teachers based on a statistical analysis of student test scores. The union, which plans to appeal, had argued that releasing data would be an invasion of privacy and would unfairly subject educators to public ridicule.

High Court to Weigh Speech Rights of Public Officials [School Law Blog, 1/10/11]: In a case with implications for school board members nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether First Amendment free speech concerns are raised when states require local elected officials to recuse themselves from voting on certain issues for ethics reasons. Read the Nevada Supreme Court ruling in Carrigan v. Commission on Ethics for the State of Nevada. Read the opinion of Charlie Haynes (of the First Amendment Center) (“Garcetti would be unwelcome element in Nevada case”) take on this issue.

2011-01-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

The California state education bureaucracy is in a state of flux with the arrival of the new governor.

Brown moves to redefine education bureaucracy [Sacramento Bee, 1/8/11]: In his first week in office, Gov. Jerry Brown's approach to education has emerged as one reminiscent of an earlier era – when the governor didn't have an education secretary and the State Board of Education was the chief executive's primary vehicle for setting school policy. See Festerwald’s blog posting on this (1/8/11).
Many see influence of teachers union in Gov. Jerry Brown's shakeup of California Board of Education [Los Angeles Times, 1/8/11]: In one of Gov. Jerry Brown's first official acts this week, he sacked the majority of the state Board of Education, replacing several vocal proponents of charter schools, parent empowerment and teacher accountability.
State school chief declares emergency in education [Los Angeles Times, 1/7/11]: California's new Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson can't call in the National Guard, but he can declare a state of emergency for the state's schools. The message was not new but Torlakson said Californians need to understand just how bad things are: 30,000 teachers laid off statewide, as well as 10,000 support staff; 174 school districts in jeopardy of default; 16 of the state’s 30 largest school systems compelled to shorten the school year.

Illegal school fees continue despite settlement, whistleblower says [California Watch, 1/7/11]: Schwarzenegger administration of allowing school districts to charge students illegal fees for classes and extracurricular activities. The agreement with the state was touted as a victory for parents and the poor.
Schools will be put to test [San Bernardino Sun, 12/29/10]: Gov.-elect Brown's recent prediction that the state's deep fiscal problems will most likely mean more cuts for California schools has local educators preparing for the worst in the coming year. Classroom overcrowding, teacher layoffs and other reductions that impact area students could remain a reality into 2011 and beyond.
For California schools, next year stands to be worse [Sacramento Bee, 12/21/10]
La Habra vs. Capo teacher strike: Why divergent outcomes? [Orange County Register, 12/25/10]: Capistrano Unified School District teachers ended three days of striking last spring with a mutual agreement – teachers would take an imposed 10.1 percent pay cut, in exchange for a pay restoration clause in their contract. But when La Habra City School District teachers ended a five-day strike last week, they returned to their classrooms without any such settlement.

Some interesting out-of-state education issues have arisen lately:

N.H. case: Can a divorced parent veto home schooling? [Christian Science Monitor, 1/7/11]: The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in the case of a father who objected to his ex-wife's choice of home schooling for their child; The case deals partly with religious views.
Court Backs School Employees in Principal's Defamation Suit [School Law Blog, 1/6/11]: Three Maine school district employees who were sued for defamation after they criticized a principal's actions should have been allowed to raise a defense under a state law limiting strategic litigation against public participation, or SLAPP suits, a federal appeals court has ruled.Read the decision in Godin v. Schencks.
Battle Over Education Funding on Docket in New Jersey [Wall Street Journal, 1/5/11]: One of the most controversial cases in the New Jersey Supreme Court's history will be back before justices Wednesday, as an advocate for urban-school funding challenges Gov. Chris Christie's education budget cuts.

The tension that often arises between the First Amendment and public schools is alive and well. These are interesting, even though many of these are from outside of California.

Lawsuit over short-hair rule may be a long shot [Indianapolis Star, 1/3/11]: The parents of a former Greensburg Junior High basketball player are asking a federal court to declare the team's haircut policy unconstitutional.
Court to Rehear Case on Elementary Students' Speech Rights [School Law Blog, 1/3/11]: A full federal appeals court has agreed to hear fresh arguments in a case weighing whether elementary school students have First Amendment rights to distribute items with religious messages to their classmates. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, announced on Dec. 17 that it would rehear Morgan v. Swanson, a case involving the scope of free speech rights of elementary school students.
The "I (Heart) Boobies!" Bracelets Controversy Goes to Court: Why the Students Are Right and the Schools Are Wrong. [Writ, 12/28/10]: Julie Hilden comments on a controversy that has recently divided students, parents, and administrators in public schools in a number of states -- and that, in at least one state, has led to an ACLU lawsuit: Students are wearing bracelets, purchased from a public-interest foundation, that bear the message "I (Heart) Boobies!" The foundation is selling the bracelets to convey the point that although many people believe that breast cancer is a disease afflicting only women over 40, it is also the largest cause of cancer deaths in women under 40-- and can even affect young girls. Wearing the bracelets has become a popular trend among teens, but some school administrators have banned them, on the grounds that they are vulgar, lewd, and/or disruptive. Hilden argues that such bans should be held to violate the First Amendment -- but she also notes that some prior Supreme Court precedent may support the schools' decisions.
Students Star in Challenge to Ban on Breast Cancer Wristbands [The Legal Intelligencer, 12/20/10]: In a day-long injunction hearing before U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin, lawyers for two Easton, Pa., middle school students set out to challenge a school ban on the wearing of rubber bracelets to promote breast cancer awareness that are emblazoned with the phrase "I [heart] boobies."
Can a High-School Cheerleader Be Required to Cheer For a Player She Says Assaulted Her? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Says Yes. [Writ, 12/20/10]: Julie Hilden comments on a decision issued by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit this Fall, rejecting a cheerleader's contention that she should have been allowed to stay silent rather than be required to cheer for a basketball player who she claims assaulted her. (She cheered for the team, but not for this player individually.) Hilden describes several Supreme Court cases regarding the right not to speak, and contends that the three-judge panel ought to have taken these precedents into account. Hilden also expresses doubt as to whether -- prior to fact discovery -- the panel correctly decided that the cheerleader's silence created "substantial interference with the work of the school," as it held that Supreme Court precedent required.

Congress has spoken and taken a controversial stance on which teachers are to be “highly qualified.”

Kearney: Alternate route, same destination: all highly qualified teachers [Thoughts on Public Education, 1/5/11]: Last month, Congress passed legislation defining “highly qualified” to include teachers pursuing their credential through an alternative certification program.
Fensterwald: Miller defends vote on interns [Thoughts on Public Education, 12/22/10]: Congress on Tuesday broadened the definition of a “highly qualified teacher” to include the 10,000 novice or intern teachers in California who are working toward their teaching credential. The clause was inserted into the Continuing Resolution to temporarily fund the federal government. It passed, as expected, last night.
Who should be considered a "highly qualified" teacher? [Washington Post blog, 1/22/10]: Teach for America educators and others still in training could be considered "highly qualified" teachers under legislation being considered by Congress. No Child Left Behind requires that every student be taught by a "highly qualified" teacher, but a recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling determined that teachers still enrolled in teacher-preparation programs should not be considered "highly qualified." Education blogger Valerie Strauss writes that the issue affects some of the country's neediest children and should be fully debated.

2010-12-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

Fensterwald: Carrot for changing teacher evaluations [Educated Guess, 12/17/10]: Last month, State Board of Education President Ted Mitchell couldn’t get any votes for his plan to encourage districts to change the way they evaluate teachers and administrators. Education groups didn’t like the proposal any better.

Fensterwald: AG asked to pursue ‘trigger’ complaints [Educated Guess, 12/17/10]: State School Board President Ted Mitchell intends to ask the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate charges of harassment and intimidation of Compton Unified parents who have petitioned to turn their low-performing elementary school into a charter school. Another story is in the Capitol Alert blog.

Teachers union officials say they are not 'villains of education' [LA Daily News, 12/16/10]: After receiving several public bashings amid unprecedented political and community pressure for school reform, leaders of the Los Angeles teacher's union said Wednesday that they are not "the villains of education." Union leaders also laid out their plan to push for teacher-led reforms, as they prepare for a new round of salary negotiations with school district officials.

School Boards Group Questions U.S. Guidance on Bullying [School Law Blog, 12/15/10]: The general counsel of the National School Boards Association is warning the U.S. Department of Education that recent federal guidance to schools on bullying and harassment expands the standard of liability for school officials and "will invite misguided litigation."

Judge leaning toward approving changes in teacher seniority rules in L.A. Unified [LA Times, 12/15/10]: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Tuesday stuck to a tentative ruling that would change the "last hired, first fired" rules that control which teachers get laid off during budget cutbacks in the L.A. Unified School District.

Brown promises austere budget at forum focused on education [Capitol Alert / Sac Bee, 12/15/10]: Gov.-elect Jerry Brown had some words of advice for those gearing up for the budget he will propose next month: "Please sit down if you're reading the stories on the budget on Jan. 10. If you're driving, fasten your seat belt because it's going to be a rough ride." For the full story, go to:

Fensterwald: Educators to Brown: give us flexibility [Educated Guess, 12/15/10]: Gov.-elect Jerry Brown warned educators at a forum at UCLA on Tuesday that they, along with everyone else, should brace for bad news (“Please sit down if you’re reading the stories on the budget on Jan. 10”) when he releases next year’s budget.

McRae: Value-added evaluations can be designed but can limitations be understood? [TOPEd, 12/14/10]: The notion of using student test scores for teacher evaluations has been a professional dilemma for me for many years. On the one hand, using student gains to evaluate teacher effectiveness, as in various “value added” schemes, seems to be a no-brainer, logical thing to do. On the other hand, implementing such schemes seems to violate professional standards for valid, reliable, and fair use of student test scores.

U.S. sues district for denying teacher time off for Mecca pilgrimage [AP, 12/14/10]: The federal government sued a suburban Chicago school district yesterday for denying a Muslim middle school teacher unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca that is a central part of her religion. The lawsuit claims that by refusing to grant Safoorah Khan unpaid leave, Illinois school district forced her to choose between her job and her religious beliefs.

Fensterwald: State of state’s teachers is bleak [Educated Guess, 12/14/10]: An annual report on the status of the teaching profession in California has found severe stresses in the system of hiring and retaining teachers, just at a time when, through budget cuts and layoffs, teachers are being asked to teach larger classes and to do more with less. There is also an item in the California Watch.

Education fills big space on Brown's chalkboard [LA Times, 12/13/10]: As the governor-elect prepares to take office, California's schools are confronted by a lack of funding that threatens to further harm pupils and a controversial reform movement that could dramatically reshape how classrooms are run. There is also an item in the “Fox and Hounds” blog.

NYC schools unveil new teacher-tenure system [NY Times, 12/13/10]: New York City schools will implement a new system for granting teacher tenure that will base part of that decision on student achievement on standardized tests. Officials say they expect fewer teachers to be granted tenure under the new system. In 2005, fewer than 1% of eligible teachers failed to receive tenure; this year, more than 11% are expected to fall short. The president of the United Federation of Teachers said the school system should focus more efforts on supporting new teachers rather than devising ways to grant tenure.

Fensterwald: Judge in Robles-Wong case needs convincing [Educated Guess, 12/13/10]: Lawyers for education groups and low-income students say they are confident that, if given the chance, they would prove that California’s school funding system is irrational and insufficient and therefore that the state should be forced to redesign and fund it.

State Sets Few Rules When Home = School [San Diego Union-Tribune, 12/13/10]: Something had long bothered Laura Tate. Her mother had started home schooling her three younger siblings when Tate was still in public high school. When Tate went back to visit her family in Ramona, it looked to her like her mother never taught the three teens.

Kansas school drops 'boobie' bracelet ban [AP / First Amendment Center, 12/10/10]: District's lawyer tells ACLU that Junction City High School will take no further action against students wearing rubber wristbands, T-shirts that support Keep A Breast Foundation.

2010-12-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

State agrees to go “fee free” at public schools [Los Angeles Times / Thoughts on Public Education [TOPEd], 12/10/10]: California will crack down on myriad illegal school fees charged to students taking part in such programs as art, athletics, band, cheer and gym if a landmark lawsuit settlement announced Thursday is approved. Read the ACLU press release.

Breast Cancer Bracelet Fight Is Latest School Free Speech Battle [The Legal Intelligencer, 12/10/10]: The latest student speech issue is whether schools can prohibit wearing pink bracelets to promote breast cancer awareness that are emblazoned with the phrase "I [heart] Boobies."

Judge tentatively OKs plan to spread the pain of L.A. Unified layoffs [Los Angeles Times, 12/9/10]: Ruling comes in a suit filed by the ACLU and others charging that some schools suffered unfairly because their teachers didn't have seniority.

Ramanathan: CTA and Quality Education Investment Act: selling the same old snake oil [TOPEd, 12/9/10]: Drug companies often hire researchers to evaluate the prescription medicines they’ve designed. Without fail, the studies reveal – surprise! – that the drugs work.

Fensterwald: Schools likely on Schwarzenegger’s hit list [Educated Guess, 12/6/10]: Democrats aren’t likely to pay much attention to the midyear budget cuts and ideas for closing a $25 billion deficit that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to offer today.

Anastasoff: Highly skilled interns should be considered ‘highly qualified’ teachers [Thoughts on Public Ed, 12/5/10]: The word “intern” conjures up visions of a high school student making copies as a volunteer, a college student struggling through their first unpaid office job, or – depending on where you sit – free help.

2010-12-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Blum: Positives, negatives, problems and some suggestions for tenure [Thoughts on Public Education12/3/10]: The term tenure describes the employment status of a permanent teacher in most public school systems. Tenure provides permanent teachers a “property right” to employment and provides significant guarantees of due process for a teacher facing dismissal charges.

5th Circuit: Elementary Students Have Rights on Christmas Messages, Court Rules [School Law Blog, 12/2/10]: Just in time for the holiday season, a federal appeals court has given a boost to parents and children who challenged a Texas school district's refusal to allow elementary school students to distribute items with Christmas and other religious messages at school parties and events. Read Morgan v. Swanson.

High Court Broadens Protection Against Municipal Liability [School Law Blog, 12/2/10]: In a decision with potential implications for school districts, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday strengthened protections against municipal liability in federal civil rights lawsuits. The justices ruled 8-0 in Los Angeles County v. Humphries a 1978 high court decision about municipal liability for civil rights violations applies even when a plaintiff is seeking only an injunction or a declaratory judgment, in contrast to monetary damages.

Court says parents can force schools to provide PE [San Luis Obispo Tribune, 12/2/10]: A California appeals court says parents can force public schools to provide state-mandated physical education.

Justices Decline Special Education Teacher's Free-Speech Case [School Law Blog, 11/29/10]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of a Michigan special education teacher who claimed she was fired for complaining that the size of her teaching caseload kept her from providing the proper amount of instruction to each of her students.: The Court of Appeals decision is Fox v. Traverse City Area Public Schools (6th Circuit, 5/17/10). Garcetti v. Ceballos was decided by the Supreme Court in 2006.

$1B in teacher compensation under attack [California Watch, 11/29/10]: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is taking aim at the more than $1 billion California school districts spend each year in extra pay to teachers with master's degrees, a core feature of teacher compensation in California and the nation.

New York Court: Court: Hazing Law Covers High School Gang [School Law Blog, 11/24/10]: A high school gang was an "organization" within the meaning of New York state's anti-hazing law, and a prospective member of the gang may not consent to being hazed, a state appellate court has ruled. Read In the Matter of Kahil H.

MPUSD revises grading policy [Monterey Herald, 11/23/10]: A revised grading policy at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District that relies more on individual performance than on traditional scales has raised a few hackles and has been described as "lowering the bar" for students.

2010-11-22T12:47:00.000-08:00

Some interesting first amendment issues have arisen lately.

Two middle schoolers have filed a free-speech lawsuit against a Pennsylvania school district that suspended them for wearing the popular "I (heart) boobies!" bracelets. One, Girls sue Pa. school over 'boobies'-bracelet ban [AP / First Amendment Center, 11/17/10] has prompted this response from David L. Hudson of the First Amendment Center [11/22/10. He argues that school officials can't ban 'booby' bracelets simply because they don't like them or fear some students might be uncomfortable.

Another issue which has been litigated a lot, and usually appears closer to high school graduation time:

Ban on Graduation Speech Mentioning 'God' Ruled Unconstitutional [AP / EdWeek / First Amendment Center, 11/19/10]: A Butte (Montana) High School valedictorian was unconstitutionally banned from speaking at her graduation because she refused to remove the words "God" and "Christ" from her speech, the Montana Supreme Court ruled. This story also appears in The First Amendment Center.
The case is Griffith v. Butte School District No. 1 et al.

Some other recent articles of note:

Norton: Anniversary approaches for a revolutionary, imperfect disabilities law [Thoughts on Public Education—TOPED, 11/22/10]: On November 29, teachers, parents, and students will quietly mark a huge milestone: the 35th anniversary of the passage of Public Law 94-142. Called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act when it was passed in 1975, it is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).

Washington Supreme Court: State Law Barred Teacher Sex With 18-Year-Old [School Law Blog, 11/18/10]: Washington state's highest court ruled on Thursday that sex between a high school teacher and an 18-year-old student meets a state law's definition of educator sexual misconduct with a minor. The case is Washington v. Hirschfelder.
Oakland teachers vote in small numbers to authorize a strike [Oakland Tribune, 11/17/10]: Oakland teachers on Tuesday evening authorized its union leadership to call a strike, although less than 15 percent of the membership voted and leaders said a strike is not imminent.

2010-11-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

Cal. Court of Appeal: Boys Can’t Sue District [Santa Clarita Valley Signal, 11/15/10]: A student who said he was sexually molested in 2007 by a former Golden Valley High School guidance counselor is not able to sue the William S. Hart Union High School District for negligence, a California appeals court ruled earlier this month. The Second District Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the boy could not seek damages from the school district because the alleged molestation was outside of the scope of work the counselor, Roselyn Hubbell, was hired to perform. The lawsuit claims that school district officials knew before hiring Hubbell that she had sexually molested children, but it did nothing to protect students from her. The boy’s attorney said he plans to file a petition in December to request that the California Supreme Court rule on the case. The court decision is C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High School District.
See my post below, dated 11/13/10, from the initial story dated 11/5/10, regarding the decision.

2010-11-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

Fensterwald: State Board enters fray on teacher evaluations [Educated Guess, 11/15/10]:

Against claims that it is exceeding its authority, the State Board of Education boldly waded last week into two controversial policy areas: teacher layoffs and teacher and principal evaluations.

Benicia cell phone crackdown upsets students, parents [San Francisco Chronicle, 11/15/10]: Gary Jensen, principal at Benicia High School, doesn't know what hit him in the face at lunchtime or who among the students huddled at picnic tables in the quad targeted him. But he knows why.

For L.A., possible lessons in D.C.'s controversial teacher evaluation system [Los Angeles Times, 11/14/10]: In school districts including Washington's, New York's and Houston's, officials are using a method called 'value-added' to bring a measure of objectivity to the process. But virtually no one endorses it as the sole gauge of an instructor.

New Hampshire Pledge of Allegiance Law Upheld [Ed Week’s SchoolLaw Blog, 11/14/10]: A federal appeals court has upheld a New Hampshire law that requires schools to set aside time daily for students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Read the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Hanover School District.

TeacherLaw News updates

2010-11-13T14:57:00.000-08:00

Christian group to sponsor 'Day of Dialogue' about homosexuality [Associated Press / First Amendment Center, 11/13/10]: A conservative Christian group has announced that it will sponsor a school-outreach program to talk about sexual orientation. Focus on the Family of Colorado Springs says it will take over sponsorship of the former "Day of Truth," which has been co-sponsored since 2005 by Exodus International, a Christian group in Orlando, Fla. It has renamed the April observance "Day of Dialogue" and is promoting it as a day to talk about homosexuality in schools, not to decry gays.

School to student: Take U.S. flag off your bike [David L. Hudson in the First Amendment Center, 11/12/10]: Since when is honoring Veterans Day with the display of the American flag disruptive? That's a question facing school officials at Denair (Calif.) Middle School who reportedly prohibited a 13-year-old student from attaching an American flag on the back of his bicycle. What the Tinker ruling called 'undifferentiated fear' leads to censorship of expression on grounds of preventing racial tension.

Civil rights complaints focus on schools' compliance with Title IX [Christian Science Monitor, 11/11/10]: The National Women's Law Center filed civil rights complaints against 12 U.S. school districts Wednesday, claiming a disproportionately low number of female students are participating in athletics. The complaints are reportedly part of a campaign to raise awareness about Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in public schools. There is a "widespread pattern of schools failing to give girls as many chances as boys to play sports," an NWLC official said.

California mulls teacher report cards [Monterey Herald, 11/12/10]: The California State Board of Education took the first step Tuesday toward a process that will make it easier to include teacher and principal evaluations in the School Accountability Report Card, a one-page summary of school accomplishments published every year for each school.

Fensterwald: Paths to school finance reform [Educated Guess, 11/11/10]: The state’s system of funding K-12 schools is inadequate, inequitable and opaque.

California leads nation in charter school growth [Sacramento Bee, 11/10/10]: California led the nation in charter school growth this year, according to a report released today by The Center for Education Reform, a pro-charter group.

Brown wants to ax secretary of education position [California Watch, 11/10/10]: As part of his campaign pledge to "make government more efficient and effective," Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has promised to do away with the secretary of education position, a fixture in governors' cabinets since the early 1990s.

Schrag: Sticking it to the Schools Suck Industry [California Progress Report, 11/8/10]: John Mockler has rarely been timid in his opinions about education policy. But he’s never been more in-your-face than in his blasts at what he’s been calling “the California Schools Suck Industry” and the “statistical pornography” of the business groups, foundations, politicians and journalists who are its principal members.

Texas cheerleader suing - didn't root for attacker [San Francisco Chronicle, 11/7/10]: If you're a high school cheerleader, you cheer for the whole team. The stars and the scrubs. The nice guys and the jerks. But what about a player you've accused of raping you. A federal appeals court ruled against a Texas high school cheerleader who was kicked off the squad after refusing to encourage her alleged attacker.

Teacher suspended over alleged teacher to student bullying incident [Detroit News, 11/8/10]: Dozens of students and community members are expected to pack a Howell school board meeting tonight to protest the two-day suspension of a high school teacher who was disciplined over a free speech issue. This was the teacher who was suspended for two days by school district officials after he disciplined two students who said they could not accept homosexuals because of their religious beliefs.

Influence of teachers unions in question [Los Angeles Times, 11/7/10]: The groups have been slow to come to terms with the push for reform. Some see them as obstacles to change, and even union sympathizers agree that their voice in the education debate has been muted.

La Habra teachers will vote on strike Tuesday, union says [Orange County Register, 11/6/10]: Teachers in the La Habra City School District will vote Tuesday evening on whether to authorize a strike after the district imposed a contract that includes permanent salary reductions and benefit caps, the teachers' union president said Friday. The fact-finding report is available.

In Schools’ Efforts to End Bullying, Some See Agenda [New York Times, 11/6/10]: Alarmed by evidence that gay and lesbian students are common victims of schoolyard bullies, many school districts are bolstering their antiharassment rules with early lessons in tolerance, explaining that some children have “two moms” or will grow up to love members of the same sex. But such efforts to teach acceptance of homosexuality, which have gained urgency after several well-publicized suicides by gay teenagers, are provoking new culture wars in some communities.

California Court of Appeal, in split decision, rules in favor of school district in negligent hiring case involving high school counselor
C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High Sch. Dist. (CA 2nd district, 11/5/10): C.A., a minor student, filed a complaint naming as defendants a public high school, the school district, and an individual guidance counselor. The complaint alleged many causes of action, including negligence, negligent supervision, negligent hiring on behalf of the District and sexual battery, assault, and sexual harassment by the counselor. The student alleged that the District “knew that [the guidance counselor] had engaged in unlawful sexually-related conduct with minors in the past, and/or was continuing to engage in such conduct,” but failed to take reasonable steps to prevent further unlawful sexual conduct by the guidance counselor. The District demurred, and the trial court agreed with the District that there were no code sections to which the public District could be held responsible as the counselor behavior, as alleged, was outside the scope of her employment. Also, “[o]n the sexual harassment, Civil Code [sections] 51.9 and 52.4 don‘t provide a statutory basis for those kind [sic] of claims against a public entity.”

C.A. then appealed and the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court decision. The Court of Appeal ruled that:
1. The facts alleged in the complaint do not support the vicarious liability of the School District.
2. No statute allows a direct action for negligence against the School District.
3. No mandatory duty subjects the School District to liability.
4. C.A.’s other causes of action also fail to state a claim.

However, the decision was not unanimous, and in a dissent it was opined that the Court of Appeal should clearly say that “the school district may be liable for breaching its duty to protect students from physical harm.” “Although the school district cannot be held liable for the intentional misconduct of the guidance counselor, it may be liable through respondeat superior for the negligence of other employees who were responsible for hiring, supervising, training, or retaining her.” The dissent argued that “[u]nder the Dailey-Hoyem-Randi W. trilogy, a school employee may be held personally liable for his or her negligence in failing to supervise students adequately, and the school district may be vicariously liable for the employee‘s negligence.”
To read the entire decision, go to:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B217982.PDF

Elverta School Board Moves to Oust Superintendent [Sacramento Bee, 11/5/10]: The Elverta Joint Elementary School District board voted 4-0 Thursday night to initiate dismissal proceedings against Superintendent Elizabeth Golchert over allegations that duct tape was placed over a student's mouth. The dismissal action came despite protests from the student's father, who voiced nothing but support for Golchert.

Fensterwald: Most parcel taxes defeated this week [Educated Guess, 11/5/10]: California voters continue to be generous when it comes to renovating and building schools. But at least in the latest election, they refused to spend any more money running them.
See the California School Board Association’s chart for all school bond and parcel tax elections.
See Rich Kitchens’ chart on this website which covers only parcel taxes:

Fensterwald: Listen up, Jerry Brown; here’s good advice [Educated Guess, 11/4/10]: The current governor has not suffered for lack of good advice on education policy. There’s the 23-study Getting Down to Facts, assembled by an institute at Stanford at his encouragement, followed by extensive findings of his Committee on Education Excellence, which he appointed. There is part one, and part two.

Torlakson leads in state Superintendent of Public Instruction race [Contra Costa Times, 11/3/10]: Elections returns show Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Pittsburg, holding his lead over retired Administrator Larry Aceves in the race for California Superintendent of Public Instruction. With 97% of precincts reporting, as of 11/03 at 9:22a.m., it looked like this:
Tom Torlakson: 54.6%
Larry Aceves: 45.5%

High Court to Weigh 'Miranda' Rights of Juveniles at School [SchoolLaw Blog, 11/1/10]: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to consider whether a juvenile burglary suspect who was interrogated at school by the police should have been given a Miranda warning about his rights.

SF school district goes after residency cheats
[San Francisco Chronicle, 11/1/10]: Liars beware. Assisted by an arsenal of private investigators and public databases, San Francisco school district officials have spent the last seven months cracking down on out-of-town address cheats, identifying 200 students who lied about where they live to get into city schools.

Kerchner: Negotiate student achievement goals into teachers’ contracts [Thoughts on Public Education blog, 10/29/10]: Collective bargaining lends itself to lots of different conversations, but it’s hard to talk about what matters most: how spending money will or won’t make education better.

Fighting Bullying With Lawsuits [The Connecticut Law Tribune, 10/29/10]: 10/29/10: Nationally, lawsuits related to bullying are popping up every month, with many filed by parents against school districts for allegedly turning a blind eye. Attorney Alyce Alfano says often bullying concerns are settled just by bringing the two parties together before a lawsuit is needed.

Study: Half of high school students admit to bullying [CNN, 10/27/10]: Half of all high school students say they have bullied someone in the past year, with nearly as many saying they have been the victims of bullying, according to a new study released this week.

Bullying Based on Sexual Orientation May Violate Civil Rights, U.S. Ed. Dept. Warns [Education Week / New York Times, 10/26/10]: Certain types of harassment rooted in sexual orientation or religious differences may be a federal civil rights violation, even though members of those groups are not specifically protected in federal law, according to new guidance released today by the U.S. Dept. of Education's office of civil rights.
You can read the "Dear Colleague Letter" from the OCR (10/26/10).
You can read the New York Times’ article (10/26/10).

Oxnard teachers union files complaint over blocked e-mail [Ventura County Star, 10/26/10]: Oxnard Federation of Teachers officials filed a complaint Monday against the Oxnard Union High School District after they said their access to the district e-mail system was unfairly terminated.

Despite capital region layoffs, a teacher shortage looms [Sacramento Bee, 10/26/10]: Even as laid-off teachers scour job ads, education experts say school districts are likely to face a massive teacher shortage when the economy recovers.

Court: No Teacher Speech Rights on Curriculum [School Law Blog, 10/21/10]: Teachers have no First Amendment free-speech protection for curricular decisions they make in the classroom, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday."Only the school board has ultimate responsibility for what goes on in the classroom, legitimately giving it a say over what teachers may (or may not) teach in the classroom," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, said in its opinion.
The case is Evans-Marshall v. Board of Education of the Tipp City Exempted Village School District.
Read the Education Week (11/16/05) story.

Jury exonerates defendants in Sac City Unified pension case [Sacramento Bee, 10/19/10]: A Sacramento County civil jury on Monday exonerated the pension consultant and lawyers who advised the Sacramento City Unified School District during creation of a now dismantled pension plan for administrators.

Fensterwald: Superman’s Emily states her case for choice [Thoughts on Public Ed, 10/19/10]: Emily Jones was speaking only for herself. She and her mother, Ann, made that clear.
You can read a response to the "Superman" film, delivered at the annual gala honoring the 2010 state and 2011 MetLife/NASSP National Principals of the Year, October 1, 2010. NASSP Principal of the Year ceremony in Washington, D.C., by NASSP Executive Director Tirozzi.

Hanushek: Unions fighting a phony ‘war on teachers’ [TopEd, 10/19/10]: No longer is education reform an issue of liberals vs. conservatives. In Washington, the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program rewarded states for making significant policy changes such as supporting charter schools.

Justices Decline Case on Teacher's Grievance [School Law Blog, 10/18/10]: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear the appeal of a New York City teacher who claims he was retaliated against and ultimately fired for his complaints about administrators' alleged failure to discipline students who threw books at him in class.

Sunday Perspective: Why aren't our teachers the best and the brightest? [Contra Costa Times, 10/17/10]: People trying to improve education in this country have been talking a lot lately about boosting "teacher effectiveness." But nearly all such efforts focus on the teachers who are already in the classroom, instead of seeking to change the caliber of the people who enter teaching in the first place.

9th Circuit Rules for Student in Strip-Search for Ibuprofen and Finds No Immunity for School Officials

2008-07-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Redding v. Safford Unified School District #1 [9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 7/11/08]
From the majority opinion in this 6-5 decision:
“On the basis of an uncorroborated tip from the culpable eighth grader, public middle school officials searched futilely for prescription-strength ibuprofen by strip-searching thirteen year-old honor student Savana Redding. We conclude that the school officials violated Savana’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The strip search of Savana was neither “justified at its inception,” nor, as a grossly intrusive search of a middle school girl to locate pills with the potency of two over-the-counter Advil capsules, “reasonably related in scope to the circumstances” giving rise to its initiation. Because these constitutional principles were clearly established at the time that middle school officials directed and conducted the search, the school official in charge is not entitled to qualified immunity from suit for the unconstitutional strip search of Savana.”

Read the full decision.
Read the account in “The Recorder” [7/14/08].
See what those at another education law blog are saying.

From the dissent on the liability issue by Judges Gould and Silverman: “[A]lthough I think our ruling should be crystal clear that schools may not subject a student to a strip search under circumstances as presented here, and although the general principles in TLO and other cases are well established, I can understand how school officials, even though they made an erroneous decision, should have some insulation from liability before our declaration of how these principles applied to this case. The fact that the district court and a majority of a prior panel of our court thought, and some dissenting judges on this panel continue to think, the scope of the search reasonable to me says something about a lack of clarity in our law.”

From the LENGTHY dissent of Judges Hawkins, Kozinski, and Bea: “[The majority fails to] acknowledge the unique considerations present in the public school setting, including the need for informal and flexible disciplinary measures, and the considerable risk presented by drugs. The Opinion also yields two rules that sweep too broadly: (1) that an uncorroborated tip from a student facing punishment is insufficient to justify the search at issue; and (2) that the search was per se unreasonable because officials were only seeking prescription-strength ibuprofen….While “unblinking deference,” is certainly not called for, we should recognize that our normal, healthy skepticism of government authority must be reconciled with the realities of the school environment….School officials in this circuit are now on notice that it is unconstitutional to require a thirteen-year-old female honor student to remove her outer garments and shake her bra and underwear, partially exposing her breasts and pelvic area, in front of two female administrators in a private room when the object sought is prescription strength ibuprofen and the only direct evidence against her is the uncorroborated tip of a culpable classmate, and the girl searched has no disciplinary history but has been suspected of consuming and serving alcohol. This precise holding is the only thing officials can rely on.”

Questions I have:
1. What are school officials—who operate daily in “the realities of the school environment”—to take from this 6-5 decision? Especially since they would not have qualified immunity when such issues are apparently determined to be “clearly established.”
2. The second (and lengthy) dissent all but pleads for the U.S. Supreme Court to rework the liability analysis when they revisit (and possibly overturn?) Saucier v. Katz next term. How will that affect the daily workings of school administrators in difficult situations such as this?

"New Vision for Schools Proposes Broad Role"

2008-07-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

Randi Weingarten, the incoming president of the American Federation of Teachers, says she wants to replace President Bush’s focus on standardized testing with a vision of public schools as community centers that help poor students succeed by offering not only solid classroom lessons but also medical and other services.

This indeed, as the article title in the Times says, is a "broad vision." The concern here is that we are expecting too much from a system that has a much narrower paradigm. It again raises the issue (raised below) of accountability: who would be responsible for the decisions that stray from the mere educational to the medical and beyond? Would a centralized model (as seems to be happening in Los Angeles) or a de-centralized model (where local school boards would be "in charge") be appropriate?

Algebra and Rigor in the Curriculum

2008-07-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t wait a week to post on the fascinating debate around math curriculum in California. Currently, state-wide at least (see how one small community is fighting the math fight), the forces have coalesced around mandating 8th grade Algebra. And, as Dan Walters points out in today’s Bee, “Algebra row symbolizes wider issue,” issues such as “Who is in charge of educating the kids?” and, then, “How should we run public education?” are the real questions that lurk behind the Algebra question. (See what the public is blogging in the LA Times' "Homeroom" blog.)

In attempting to answer the first question, he interestingly did not mention the parents. (This mistake is pointed out by the many commentators to his article on the Bee website.) I think it is just an oversight by Mr. Walters, although he just might be taking sides, obliquely, in the home-school debate currently in the courts.

As to the question of “curriculum” rigor—and its joined-at-the-hip partner, “instruction”—which are often confused for one another in the public debate, the issue is interestingly being played out today in the Algebra debate with articles from Sacramento and San Diego, and then juxtapose these discussions with the mindset of the Orange County folks who are angry about the Advanced Placement results being impacted by cheating.

As you consider all of this, be sure and listen to a “Perspective” from KQED-FM (7/10/08) on a tough (and often-faced) choice confronted by a Washington High (S.F.) English teacher. All of this gives the reader interested in some of the issues faced by those on the front line of the "rigor" debate in California.

All in all it makes for a fine way to ease the way into a summer weekend. Enjoy!

Welcome to California School Law blog of Rich Kitchens

2008-07-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

July has brought some interesting ed law issues into the headlines again. For example, how a school board is supposed (or not supposed) to operate was implicated in Stockton, some school districts (such as Cupertino’s) are keeping an eye on enrollment,

At least we are not as bad as the evolution debate in Louisiana…or are we? There are severe cash problems in San Diego, school reform pits states against national governments, even in tiny Lagunitas, and the ever-present school discipline issues abound—in the New York as well as in Fresno. Free speech issues are different in California, say, than in Oregon, and bad teachers may be tough to fire anywhere. Then there is the home-schooling issue.

The point is that while many issues involving school law—particularly public school law—are unique to California, some issues cross state lines quite easily. We hope to get discussion going on any subject of interest involving public policy and education in California. Jump aboard and let us know what you are thinking. I will post every week and we hope to hear from you!