edl 479 school law & ethics class notes
TRANSCRIPT
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Day One - July 16, 2014
hypothetical case #1 - academic integrity policy
hypothetical case #2 - key logger/ cell phone in testing situation
General Advice from Mark Klein touch of the tism
In the vast majority of school cases in courts, most often they will defer to the school
because theytrust educators and they dont want to be the arbiter of what is right or
wrong.
Legal Terms I learned in the course
plaintiff - a person(s) or party who brings a case/suit/legal action against another in a
court of law
indemnity - security or protection against legal action or financial burden summary judgement- a decision made by a court of law without a full trial. The
judgement is made based on clearly one-sided facts in the case.
cross-motions - when both parties (plaintiff and defendant) make a motion
click wrap agreement - the online user agreement many websites put on their site and
users need to agree.
copyright - the same concept as a patent, but it protects an idea I.P - intellectual
property
injunction - an order from the court stopping an action or forcing them to do something
enjoining - suspended, stopped when one gets an injunction, the person receiving the
injunction is enjoined for example, if a court rules that the person playing loud musiccant, then the
guardian ad litem - court appointed legal counsel to represent infants, the unborn, or
incompetent. ex) Vergara Case
demurrer - is a pleadingin a lawsuitthat objects to or challenges a pleading filed by an
opposing party.
En banc - when all the judges of a court hear the case (team judging)
certiorari - a higher court orders a lower court to send all documents of a case so they
can review them
remand - to send back
mootness- there is no subject matter to decide classic case is bringing a case to court
if nothing has happened yet
stare decisis- courts will try to rely on previous cases decisions and apply these
rulings let the decision stand try to leave things decided and not de novo
dicta - court pontificating what might have happened if the case would have been
different
ripeness- the case is not ready...yet - ex) in Reese case, they could not bring it to court
until after the Board hearing
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standing - the plaintiff must have a definitive interest in the controversy ex) parents need
to file for the students
CopyrightFair Use the life of the author plus 27 years
there is no percentage of determining fair use with partial use of work
Are you trying to avoid payment to the author or publisher?
1) purpose and character (commercial advantage) - Are they making money off of the work?
2) nature of copyrighted material - how are you using the work and is it the same thing as the
author
3) amount used
4) impact on the market value of the piece of work
Berne Convention- an international agreement (Switzerland 1896) protecting intellectual
property/copyright started by Viktor Hugo 167 countries have signed the agreement
Supreme Court / US Court System
current supreme court is 5-4 conservative Roberts the Chief Justic is becoming more of a
centrist Scalia/Thurmond conservative Kagen/Sotomayor liberal asked to 5,000 cases, but only
about 20-30 cases pick the highest need to be resolved
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Ethics for the School Administrator
Star Trek was essentially about ethical decisions (the prime directive). Captain Kirk is a goodexample of ethical leadership as he was not the expert of anything, but got all of them together
and made the ethical decisions that needed to be made.
ethics -
a branch of philosophy governing the conduct of an individual
there are personal and professional codes of ethics
Ethic of Justice (Rules)
- laws, regulations, policies fairness
- balances ethical issues such as due process and privacy rights (individual) against the need
for civility and the good of the majority (community)
- Is there a policy that relates to the matter, is it enforced equally or should it be?
- balancing the rights of the individual versus the community
Ethic of Critique (Power)
- power and influence (not only position but influence for good or bad)
- autocratic leader who makes the rules, who benefits who has the power who is silenced
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- marginalized groups are out of power challenges status quo, rules resists abuse of authority
Ethic of Care (People)
- personal connections and relationships compassion
- focuses on feelings and individual relationships
- How can we promote a nurturing, positive, organizational climate?
Ethic of Community (Group)
- community/organizational standards tension between democratic decisions of community
versus decisions made by the experts
- when do we form a committee and when do we just decide listening to parents and local
culture
It is good to have a mix of people on the admin team that are stronger in these areas or to have
people take these roles if they are not there. I can place people I work with in each of theseareas.
Why is ethics so important? It is the fundamental bridge to TRUST. And, without TRUST, you
cannot LEAD.
When you try to please everyone all the time, you will not get the trust. You have to learn to say
no and you will tick some people off at times.
He recommends 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) and The Speed of Trust (2006) by
Steven Covey.
Council Rock School District - live feed and archive for Board Meetings on Youtube.
Ethical Decision -After a very difficult year with a teacher in your school, you have counseled
her away from your school. The teacher has submitted her resignation in lieu of termination in
April. In May, you receive an email from the school head of a private school in the US requesting
a letter of reference for this teacher. What do you do?
What if, instead of the school heads invitation, the departing teacher asks you for a letter of
reference?
What if, instead of a request of you, the teacher approaches a colleague who wants to send a
letter of recommendation on school letterhead to this private school.
- letter of rec by colleague on school letterhead (Head controls message of the school)
- pass the trash
- egregious act (go after certification)
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UChkaM3sKzz_bKyOnyKSNl3ghttps://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stephencovey.com%2F7habits%2F7habits.php&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGjhyVdoE5rl7HlQJQcsKEFV20gpg -
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- teacher fired for looking at real estate web sites
Background ChecksWe discussed this at length in the class. Council Rock requires an FBI Clearance, State Police
Clearance, and Public Welfare Check (Social Services - sometimes called a 51A in Mass)
Mark recommends only an FBI clearance for international hires. This pagehas information from
the State Department on how to get it.
http://www.jamievollmer.com/
public schools have to do so much more than before, every problem in society, the schools get
asked to solve these problems
in the beginning of the 60s, the federal government starts to get involved in education triggeredby the sputnik
The purpose of law can be channeling of social change
law - want money equity - order ex) a neighbor move his fence 5 feet
district court - majority of cases tried here
Contract Law
common law - the codification of what happened for years
defn - an enforceable promise legal agreement
create an obligation to do consideration - payment
pay by salary not paid by the hour this is for a teacher, not for clerical
need to be careful if you have a deadline and an offer comes in late, be careful - do not
letter of intent - both parties sign off on it -
Being tenured in a school means you need to define regarding incompetence, ineffectiveness,
immorality, etc.
Why tenure?
Hire a teacher based on credentials and interview, but you need to see a teacher in the
classroom for a period of time.
Teachers will have ups and downs in their 35-year career, especially with kids, death,
divorce, health, etc. Keep this in mind...
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To protect stability of civil servants due to political changes.
You get tenure between school districts within the state.
You can demonstrate bad teaching, applying the Danielson model, is the job of a
principal. Some teachers with good test scores, are not touchy, feely but they are good
with the content.
a species of property created by law, and granting to the holder basic due processrights before the property right can be revoked.
At universities in the USA, less people are going into education because it is harder to get jobs in
education, especially in the public schools. The implications of this will be a teacher shortage for
low-performing schools.
Employment and Employee Rights
14th Amendment - DUE PROCESS Came around at time of Reconstruction after the Civil War,
when USA was trying to stay together and integrate slaves and southern states into our society.Right to appeal, documentation, hearing, legal help, timeline..
Employee Rights are defined by:
contracts - teachers/school
statutes
case law
Teacher Rights and Responsibilities
A colleague with a great reputation in your school has revealed to you a relationship that he ishaving with a parent in the school. Your colleague is married as is the parent. He reveals to you
that he is ready to leave his wife and asks for your complete confidentiality.
A teacher needs to report to a supervisor. Principal in Pennsylvania makes a report to Social
Services and sends document to Superintendent.
Schools are a reporting agency, not an investigatory agency. Do you report?
Teacher Civil Rights
Substantive Rights:Speech - Political, Curricular, Symbolic
Association Freedom
Employee Speech is protected when that teacher speaks on a matter of Public Concernunless
the right to speech is outweighed by the schools need to avoid material disruption.
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in classroom- not much free speech need to follow the curriculum if a student asks your
opinion of something, you can go ahead and give them to it. dont pontificate, if you bring it up
dont bring up beliefs
restorative counseling
Kleins Views on Cameras
They act as a deterrent and they put large, old cameras in the reception area. In Council Rock
Schools District, they have 250 in elementary school and 450 in high schools. They are only in
common areas, like corridors, problem points like cafeteria, stairwells, etc. For most of the year,
they are background noise but those 5 instances they really help out. They have a 7-day storage
and all administrators have them on their iPad.
Supreme Court Cases
Tinker
We are in conservative Iowa in the 1960s and several students wants to wear blackarmbands in protest of Vietnam War. The principal got wind of this and prevented them
from coming to school and suspended.
The question is do students have rights of free speech at school if it is not disturbing to
the school environment? The court said that they do and they were silently wearing
armbands and if they were inciting a riot, then they would have not been allowed to do
this. The minority dissent said the court should not overrule the principal.
This is the landmark case in establishing constitutional rights for students and teachers
in school.
A modern day application would be school dress code. Courts can back enforcement of
a dress code if gangs are involved.
Morse (Principal) vs. Frederick (Student)
This took place 2002 Juneau, Alaska and the Olympic Torch (SLC) was passing through
the town. The school had the students line the streets when the torch went by the school
building. The student did not attend school and unfurled a banner with Bong Hits for
Jesus and he was suspended for less than 10 days. He wanted media attention and the
statement did not promote any cause.
The question is does the student have free speech rights, if it is not lewd or offensive.
Was there substantial disruption? No because there were 2000 cheering students.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school, because the banner disrupts the missionof the school. The banner mentions drugs and the school has a drug policy which gave
reasonable grounds for the principal to ask the students to take the banner down.
Safford versus Redding School District
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This case was in Arizona, and the school conducted a strip search and the court ruled
there was not enough probable cause. They should have stopped at her pockets, waist
band, locker, bag, but dont have them take off clothes.
Dont strip search kids.
Searches expectation of privacy in schools
lockers - handled in Student -Parent Handbook
Council Rock uses trained sniffing dogs (private company, not police) for lockers and
cars ex) of Penn St. tailgate parents left alcohol in car
metal detectors not effective because kids put gun on window sill or in another area that
they can reach
a student has a 1 in 17 million chance in dying in public schools
Freedom of Speech
curricular speech (student newspaper, theatre) court ruled for school (Hazelwood) andthey have some discretion
Decorum- hats inside poor manners, but now that is gone kids can wear hats at Council Rock
School District
Private Schools have much more freedom regarding Due Process. They are under some
federal laws (race, sex) and more strict when schools are receiving federal funds.
Substantive Due Process
Goss vs. Lopez (1975)
suspension of 0 - 3 days - notice and opportunity to be heard suspension of 3 - 10 days - above and informal hearing
suspension of over 10 days - impartial tribunal, right to present evidence, public hearing,
counsel, hearing record/appeal
In high school at Castle Rock, about 20 times per year, a 5-10 day suspension is given a few
times per year, alcohol/marijuana then Board
It is always legal to look at a faculty members emails, and websites visited, especially if you
have parent concerns and informal visits.
When group work is going on, a principal should see an agenda or task.
waze - an app that gives you traffic and police locations which are crowd sourced
Exploring the Boundaries of the Internet - Student and School Conduct in Cyberspace:
Law and Practice
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Internet Law and Practice
Know your acceptable use policy, copyright law, laptop handbook, social media policy.
Internet communications are protected speech (First Amendment) Reno vs. ACLU 97
Dealing with children, schools need to filter and monitor internet schools are moving to
blocking cell phone 4G in certain areas, like bathrooms and lockerrooms
social media, cyber security, mobile devices internet access, cyber bullying, sexting and
inappropriate images
Council Rock brings in FBI public outreach for cyber security - they target middle level
(grades 7 and 8) - by the time students are in grade 11, they get tired of it and they know
how to deal with it.
With grade 7-8, it is their first experience with Facebook, phones, etc. FBI recommends
parents to check their Facebook pages daily
You also have to train the staff on this topic document and send to administrator
Acceptable Use
Make sure school has yearly clickwrap agreement for Acceptable Use
clear language that student and staff access to school/district computer network is NOT
CONFIDENTIAL and the district does monitor that use
prohibition of inappropriate use
only be interested in IP addresses teachers access while with students
Council Rock states not to stream music because it sucks bandwith
define inappropriate use well - nudity, sexual conduct, offensive, not suitable for minors,
lacks serious literary, artisitc, political, or scientific value
define hacking
prohibition - computer gaming - bandwidth (warcraft) - if you have a doubt, send it toadministrator -
clear statement on email
phone conversations are confidential and not recorded
process for changing passwords statement when access priorities end
When you get into Facebook and texting - there is a line of demarcation that usually
shows where it should have stopped
social media has surpassed email/phone for communication
school alternative to social media use - NING, etc.
Council Rock asks teachers to use NING - teachers cannot friend students, parents,
administrator
1:1 laptop program - Kleins philosophy is in an upper-middle class school district, it is not
feasible because it is very expensive, and most kids can get their own computers
- the promise of technology being a panacea for education and the flipped classroom model
does not work because they are teenagers!
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JS vs. Bethlehem, PA - 1998 PA Supreme Court
Student created website called Teacher Sux with crude, derogatory, violent, comments,
especially directed towards math teacher and principal. There was one Hitman section,
requesting donations to pay a hitman to kill the math teacher and show the teacher
decapitated.
Teacher took a Leave of Absence for 1 and 1/2 year for mental distress. The school had police and FBI investigate and the school stayed out of the investigation.
The court decided in favor of the school. The family sued because JS was expelled from
the school, claiming it was violation of First Amendment. There was enough disruption to
the learning environment to warrant it being on-campus speech instead of off-campus
speech.
The court ruled it was not a true threat because
Goss vs. Lopez - can suspend for three days to give time for the school to investigate and get
documentation together before expelling the student. This is the standard operation procedure
before getting rid of a student after the suspension, you call the parents in and have an informalhearing
Once you are in front of students - then the school has a vested interest in your personal life.
In some cases, a punch in the nose, a change in the balance of power, helps the situation at
times.
Student Teaching
Many young people cannot Planning - Delivering - Adjusting to Students do an internship
(student teaching is antiquated) - When you pay your university for student teaching - the cooperating teacher gets a
stipend/3-credits, etc.
like a residency for a doctor
1/3 to double more certified teachers in PA than there are jobs - very rich state in certified
teachers
Educating Students With Special Needs
IDEA, Gifted, and other Artifacts of US Law
IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Background - In the 1960s, a student with significant disability was rarely were seen in typical
public schools. A coalition of parents in Pennsylvania pushed legislators to eventually pass in
Public Law 94-142, which forced schools to take in special needs students and set up programs
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fidea.ed.gov%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF81VL7ErLP3JtuZI5nh98mdkAoqA -
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for them, both physical and curriculum. Before this, the students were put in state institution
homes. There were a series of laws enacted through the 1970s up through the 2000s. This was
part of the civil rights movement in the USA.
This also addressed those students in the school with mild special needs, and in the 1960s, no
one really cared to identify and support those kinds of students. From 1972-1985, it was a toughstruggle to get schools to find trained people and set up program. The principle of CHILD FIND
requires a school district to identify ALL students eligible for services. A parents failure to
request identification or services does not relieve the school from Child Find. 2/3 of all school law
cases are dealing with IDEA.
Eligibilities Categories for IDEA- covers lots of different physical and mental disabilities,
except for ADD. For specific students with ADD, the right medicine takes care of this.
Process - public schools must find students with special needs
1) Identify/ Child Find - Response To Intervention (RtI)2) Evaluation (ER) - psychologists, a Multidisciplinary Evaluation Process (MDE) is a team of
different specialists (Reading Specialist, Classroom Teachers, Emotional, Speech Therapist,
Parents, Parent Advocates), a battery of tests there are specific timelines, documentation
parents have right for Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), which schools can take or
challenge and schools will do their own evaluatio
3) Program (IEP)
IEP (Individual Education Plan)
They are usually for one year Council Rock staggers these IEP production process
Special Ed teachers get 2 days off per year to write IEP difficult to get secondaryteachers free to be on the MDE team.
F.A.P.E. - Free Appropriate Public Education - you need to put a modicum of
programs (Chevrolet) and not full bore (Mercedes) programs the key term is showing
some progress and meaningful
Specially Designed Instruction
Present Levels - ongoing set of testing, sometimes tough to see hard data
Goals/Objectives
Special Considerations
Transition Services (what happens when graduates) - up until age 21, the state agencies
break down and there is not much for adults with special needs in their 20s, there are no
IEPs for students older than 21 years old
State and Local Assessments (what happens when standardized testing)
4) Placement (NOREP)
- you have to offer a continuum of services (mild to severe) and Least Restrictive
Environment (LRE) the regular classroom is the goal and all efforts and documention must be
done, especially with recalcitrant parents.
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- cost can never be a factor never discuss this with parents
Financial Implications- In Council Rock Schools, 18% of students are special needs and 30%
of the budget goes to them story of severely handicapped student,
Klein is seeing more medically fragile students, and there are more of them, for example withepipens for peanut allergies
Discipline of Special Needs Students - You can never suspend students for more than 10
days for students with I.E.Ps, a Manifestation Determination Hearing must be done before you
can suspend a student for example, an ADD student, sells ritalin/adderall to other students if it
is a manifestation of their disability, you cannot suspend the student if it is with
weapons/drugs/alcohol, the limit is 45 days (2007 exception)
Remedies- when the student is not making significant progress or parents are not happy with
schools program this goes to an official hearing (Due Process) which the court could order thestudent to go to a private school, special program, and they need to pay attorney/expert fees
Autism and the Autistic Child - In the USA it is an epidemic and schools are seeing more
autism. Is there something out there, or is it just better diagnosis? Council Rock sees a
relationship between in vitro and autism.
Confidentiality of Student Records- storage, dissemination, right to know, parent access,
press Who else needs to know? FERPA (Family Education and Right to Privacy Act)
Bullying and Disabilities Harassment - define bullying and try to
504 Plan- students not covered by IEP, these include a student with broken leg concussions
(sun glasses, no PE) large print for visually impaired epipen
Klein recommends to take a Special Education Law Course if you are going to practice in the
USA.
Religion in Public Schools
Lemon Test
This originated in the Lemon vs. Kurtzmancase of 1971 and asks if the governmental action has
a secular purpose, the action does not promote nor inhibit religion, and finally, does not lead to
excessive governmental entanglement with religion. Separation of Church and State
Use of Facilities by Religious Groups
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Private groups can use your facilities, and you cannot discriminate and they fit your facility use
policy. Teachers can do a religious group after school, but there needs to be a break from the
school day. The concept of Limited Open Forum either no one uses the facilities or anyone can
use them. Private schools are not under this requirement, and public schools would have a
harder time doing this. Council Rock makes $200,000 - $300,000 with facility rental. One group
takes care of the fields. A big money maker are swimming pools and they are busy from 5:30 AMto 10:00 PM in the evening.
Schools can get holiday for Easter and Yom Kippur, because with many students going to
Synagogue and 20% of students would be gone.
Intelligent Design curriculum cannot be taught, but it can be taught as a one-off lesson or based
on a student question. Deciding to teach the ID or Creationism is teaching a religious view.