School Law: What Every Educator Should Know, A User Friendly Guide » (1st Edition)

Louis Fischer (J.D. and Ph.D., Stanford University) is Professor Emeritus and former dean of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

David Schimmel (J.D., Yale University) is Professor of Education in the Department of Educational Policy, Research, and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Visiting Professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Leslie R. Stellman (J.D., Syracuse University) is chairman of the Education Law Practice-Group of the Towson, Maryland, firm of Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, P.A., as well as an Adjunct Professor of Education Law at Johns Hopkins University, Morgan State University Graduate School of Education, and the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Do teachers have a right to dress as they wish?

Can Social Studies Teachers be prohibited from discussing controversial issues?

When can copyrighted works be copied without permission?

If you’ve ever pondered these or other questions of law, you need to know the right answers! In School Law: What Every Educator Should Know, A User-Friendly Guide, David Schimmel, Louis Fischer, and Leslie Stellman demystify educational law one question at a time and provide clarity to hundreds of topics that affect teachers today—NCLB, Vouchers, School Choice, Discipline, Academic Freedom, Liability for Student Injuries, Due Process, Search and Seizure, Dress and Grooming, to Harassment and Child Abuse—encompassing law established by state and federal statutes, constitutions, and court decisions. The authors offer friendly translations of legal jargon into everyday English, empowering educators to take the law constructively into their own hands and use it as a source of guidance and protection to improve their schools and classrooms.

School Law: What Every Educator Should Know, A User-Friendly Guide is a powerful reference every educator can use and is a perfect resource for seminars and courses in Education Foundations, Introduction to Educational Psychology, School Counseling, Field Experience, Student Teaching Practicum, and Classroom Management, where knowledge of core legal concepts is important.

Make the law work for you…

“With its question/answer format, [this] book provides a general overview of how the legal system applies to the practice of education, considering many questions one might not think to ask.”

—Meghan M. Reilly, Andover High School, Andover, MA

“There is an excellent balance of legal citations in contrast with specific examples that almost every instructor can relate to in their experience as a classroom teacher.”

—Thomas J. Little Jr., Kokomo-Center Schools, Kokomo, IN

Topic Overviews

Preface

About the Authors

1. Teachers and the Legal System

2.Teacher Contracts, Tenure and Collective Bargaining

3. Responsibilities and Liabilities: Student Injuries, Defamation, and Abuse and Neglect

4. Teacher Freedom of Expression: Academic Freedom, Association, Appearance, and Copyright

5. Student Freedom of Expression: Speech, Press, Association, and Appearance

6. Due Process Rights of Teachers and Students

7. Religion and Public Education

8. Discrimination and Equal Protection: Race, Gender, Age, Language, and Special Education

9. Teachers’ Personal Life

10. Parents’ Rights in Educating Their Children and Controlling Their School Records

11. The No Child Left Behind Act and Other Current Controversies

Appendix A: Selected Provisions of the U.S. Constitution

Appendix B: Major Federal Laws Affecting Education

Glossary

Index