Edl 401 - Day 3

EDLEDL–– 401 628 The Professional Teacher School Law and Ethics Legal Perspectives Justin Justin Bathon Bathon - Spring 2009

Fall 2008

Day 3: Student Issues EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Agenda

• Announcements/Questions • Think Now • Student Classifications – Case Summary Workshop

• Bullying/Harassment • Child Abuse • Student Discipline/Search & Seizure

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Think Now 1. True/False: Kentucky, in their anti-bullying law, has made it easier to charge students who bully with criminal misdemeanors.

4. What Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches & seizures? 5. True/False: Schools must have reasonable suspicion to search a locker with a drug dog? EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Protections from Discrimination • Eyes on the Prize • 14th Amendment • “No state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” • How does the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment apply to desegregation and affirmative action cases? EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

The Road to Brown… • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – Allowed Racial Segregation of Passengers of Railroad Cars. • Separate but Equal becomes the Law of the Land.

• Higher Education Cases… – Four cases between 1938 – 1950 where black plaintiffs prevailed in challenging segregation policies. – Because of these the NAACP Legal Defense Fund thought that segregation was ripe for a direct attack in K-12 schools.

My Hero

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas The Supreme Court held that the segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities. Schools must desegregate “with all deliberate speed.”

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Case Summary Workshop Helpful Hints… • Explain as if you were telling a friend (or your mom). – own words, not quotes – Add enough detail to make sense

•

Identify what happened in the lower court(s) in the fact section and be sure the rest of the summary is about the higher court • Include LEGAL authority (e.g., amendment, statute, case law) EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Now it’s Your Turn… • Case Name? – Brown v. Board of Educ.

• Citation? – 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

• Your answer should look like: – Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

What are the facts of the case? •

•

In a series of different cases, African American were denied admission to the white public schools. These students brought their cases to court arguing that segregation based on race in public schools was a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed to consolidate all of these lower court decisions because they had a legal question in common. State what happened in the lower courts. – The Kansas, South Carolina, and Virginia courts denied relief to the African American students (i.e., held segregated schools were constitutional) under the “separate but equal doctrine” of Plessy v. Ferguson. When this doctrine was applied to schools, it meant that as long as the tangible factors of a school were equal such as the school building, then the students were receiving equal protection under the 14th Amendment. The Delaware court ordered that the African American students were admitted to the white schools because the white schools were superior. All of these cases were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

What is the issue that the court is deciding? • Does racial segregation among public school children deprive the African American children equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment (even when tangible factors of the school are equal)?

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

What did the court decide? • Yes. The Supreme Court held that the segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprived the children of equal educational opportunities.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Why did the court rule this way? • The Court discussed how times had changed since the 14th Amendment was ratified (i.e., African Americans were better educated and successful) and therefore, the history of the Amendment was not relevant to public education in 1954. Instead, the Court relied on the holdings of Sweat v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents to show that the segregation of white and African American graduate students in public schools had a detrimental effect upon the African American students. In these cases, the Court held that graduate schools must be desegregated because regardless of equal tangible factors, there were many intangible factors that caused segregated schools to be unequal….

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Court’s reasoning cont. • The Court reasoned that when students were separated a sense of inferiority affected the African American students’ motivation to learn. Thus, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and the doctrine of “separate but equal” should no longer apply to public education. In other words, it was unconstitutional to separate students based on race even if the physical facilities and other tangible factors were considered equal.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

De Jure and De Facto Segregation

Illegal

De Jure

De Facto

• Intentional Acts of Segregation

• Segregation in Practice as a Result of Individual Choices

Legal

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Discrimination in American Law • Who is protected? – Harder than you think…

• When are they protected? – Much harder than you think…

• How are they protected? – I don’t even know how to explain this its so hard… EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Title IX Protects Discrimination Based on Gender Including Sexual Harassment

Gender

Racial

See Following Material

See Special Education Unit

Other Protected Classes Include: • Ethnicity • Religion • Political Affiliation

Discrimination & Student Classifications

Disability

Others

Language

School districts must remove English language barriers that impede participation of non-English speakers with an effort that will “reasonably effective in producing intended results.”

Generally, in these instances, the students are considered members of a “protected class” (guaranteed by the Constitution or a statute) and, thus, to use such a classification the government must demonstrate a “compelling interest” for the classification and the procedures for that classification must be “narrowly EDL 628tailored.” School Law and Ethics

Parents Involved & Meredith • Louisville’s Plan: – Assigned to resident school – Can request new school within cluster, most got choice – Could request transfer to any school within district • Optimal racial balance for schools between 15-50% black (black & other) • Schools used this guide in assigning transfer requests, among other factors

At Supreme Court, case was consolidated with a case out of Seattle, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle, where race was used as a tiebreaker between equally qualified students to gain admission to best schools.

Meredith v. Jefferson Co. Timeline 1975

Louisville Schools Ordered Desegregated

2000

Desegregation Order Reversed

2001

Jefferson County Schools Implement Voluntary Desegregation Plan

2002 & Students file suit against the voluntary 2003 desegregation plan.

2005

6th Circuit rules that race cannot be only factor, but can be a factor and busing was legal.

2007

Supreme Court Rules Louisville’s voluntary desegregation plan is illegal

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Compelling Interests & Narrow Tailoring • Compelling Interest – Diversity can be a compelling interest – Whether or not this remains depends on the election this fall.

• Narrow Tailoring – Extremely Difficult – Basically all plans that explicitly use a racial classification are NOT narrowly tailored. – Plans that implicate race, without using race, might be okay. • Socio-economic status EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Harassment, Bullying & Abuse

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Employer to Employee Harassment •

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination.

•

There are two kinds of harassment: 1. Quid Pro Quo 2. Hostile Work Environment KRS 161.190 – Abuse of Teachers EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Employee to Student Harassment • Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds.

• School officials must have actual knowledge of the harassment and be deliberately indifferent toward the victim. (Gebser v. Lago Vista)

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Rule

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Student to Student Harassment • Lawsuits brought under Title IX. • School officials must have actual knowledge of the behavior and exhibit deliberate indifference toward the victim. The harassment must also have been severe, persistent, and objectively offensive. (Davis v. Monroe)

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Sexual Harassment • Teacher’s Discuss Sexual Harassment in their Classrooms (2:05)

– Hostile Hallways, AAUW, 1993 EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Bullying in Kentucky

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Bullying: Why Do We Care COLUMBINE • School violence is the impetus for the increased attention to school bullying. • Often, after the incident, information is found from the perpetrators that show they were the recipient of school bullying. •

See, The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

The Kentucky Statute • Recently Passed • Rated highly by Anti-Bullying Groups, but … • It does not mention the word bullying? – Schools are left to define it own on their own. – See Handout(s)

• Opens up possible criminal sanctions for bullying that arises to the level of harassment or harassing communications. EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

CHILD ABUSE • Definition – Rev. Stat. § 600.020 • Abused or Neglected Child – – – –

Physical Abuse Emotional Abuse Sexual Abuse Neglect

Hotline 1-877-597-2331 EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Penalties for Failure to Report • Mandatory Reporters – Rev. Stat. § 620.030

1-877-597-2331

• Teachers, school personnel, or child-caring personnel

– Rev. Stat. § 620.050 The identity of the reporter shall not be disclosed except: • To law enforcement officials, the agency investigating the report, or to a multidisciplinary team • Under court order, after a court has found reason to believe the reporter knowingly made a false report

• Penalties for Failure to Report •

Rev. Stat. § 620.990(1) –

Any person intentionally violating the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.

– Rev. Stat. § 620.050(1) • Any person who knowingly makes a false report and does so with malice shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Child Abuse Discussion • Some topics … • Reporting – To Whom? – When? – What’s the Teacher’s Role?

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

• “… nor shall and State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law…” • Life, Liberty & Property: Do Students Have These Things? • What does “due process of law” mean?

The 14th Amendment & Due Process

Notice

– At minimum, it means at least 2 things.

• Does this mean we must give due process for all discipline?

Opportunity to be Heard

– Yes!!! – But, it can be very low. The greater the depravation, the greater the due process. EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Suspensions & Expulsions Suspensions

Expulsions

Who?

Superintendents, Principals, Ass’t School Board Principals & Head Teacher.

How Long?

Up to 10 days.

A year for weapons. Can be less for drugs.

Due Process?

Notice & Opportunity to be Heard (can be minimal)

Notice & Formal Hearing before School Board.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Other Issues in School Discipline • Weapons – 158.150(2)(a) – Gun Free School Zones Act of 1994 – What is a weapon? 527.070 – Zero-Tolerance, One Year Expulsion

• Drugs & Assault/Battery of Teachers 158.150(2)(b) • Corporal Punishment – Not prohibited by Statute (Kentucky in minority of states) – Districts can Prohibit

• Grade Reductions – Okay for absences and work missed, not okay as a disciplinary measure.

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

Search and Seizure Reasonable Suspicion v. Probable Cause Justified at its Inception

Reasonable in Scope

Reasonable Suspicion

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

The Expectation of Privacy      

Locker search Search of cars Search of coats/book bags Search of purse Search of pockets Strip search

EDL 628 School Law and Ethics

U.S. Supreme Court Cases • New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) • Vernonia School District v. Acton (1995) – Lower expectation of privacy in sports, thus, random drug testing of student athletes is allowed

• Board of Education v. Earls (2002) – Random Drug Testing of All Extra-Curricular Activities is allowed. http://www.kynews.org/articles/show/1321 EDL 628 School Law and Ethics