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This book is about teachers and the laws that affect them. New to this sixth edition are new court cases and a chapter that highlights likely controversies in the coming years, including school choice, high-stakes testing, control of the Internet, and gang clothing. The book is divided into two parts. Part I, "The Legal Aspects of Teaching," addresses questions related to teacher contracts, dismissals, tenure, collective bargaining, liability, child abuse, defamation, and copyright laws. Part II, "Teachers' and Students' Rights," explores legal issues related to the scope and limits of personal freedom of expression, covering such topics as religion and conscience, personal appearance, due process, privacy, homeschooling, bilingual and multicultural education, student records, sex and racial discrimination, free speech, and academic freedom. The book follows a question-and-answer format. Most of the questions and answers are based on reported court cases. Each chapter begins with an overview and ends with a summary and endnotes. Included in appendices are selected provisions of the U.S. Constitution, a summary of major civil laws affecting schools, and a list of legal resources for teachers. The book also contains a glossary, a selected bibliography, and a subject index. (WFA)

A variety of laws and regulations apply to school counselors, psychologists, and social workers in their work. This book presents information on legal issues of particular interest to counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Each chapter concludes with at least one relevant court case. Ten chapters provide indepth information on the following: (1) the anatomy of the law; (2) confidentiality and the duty to warn; (3) civil and criminal liability; (4) education records and the students' right to privacy; (5) legal issues related to assessing and grouping students; (6) students with special educational needs; (7) behavior control and student discipline; (8) child abuse and neglect; and (9 and 10) rights related to schooling, parts I and II. A topic overview lists questions answered in each chapter. Appendices contain selected constitutional and federal statutes and relevant provisions of the ethical standards from several professional organizations. A glossary and subject-author index are included. (LMI)

This book is intended to help students, teachers, administrators, and parents become more aware of students' legal rights and more sensitive to arguments on both sides of current civil rights controversies. The authors attempt, whenever possible, to translate legal jargon into language more readily understood by laymen, and they rely primarily on the "case" approach to discussing legal questions. This approach first describes the situation surrounding a legal controversy, then poses several questions that confront the major implications of the case, and finally summarizes the opinion of the court. Summaries at the end of each chapter integrate the rulings of the diverse cases presented in the chapter. Individual chapters examine provisions and applications of school law involving freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of religion and conscience, personal appearance, racial and ethnic segregation, sex discrimination, and due process of law. (Author/JG)

This book is about the legal rights that parents have in the education of their children from kindergarten through high school. These rights are of two kinds: the rights that parents have on their own, as parents, and the rights they have as agents for their children. Currently, all the constitutional rights that apply to adults in the community also apply to young people in the public schools. The purpose of this book is to enable parents of public school students to constructively take the law into their own hands. Its aim is to provide them with the knowledge necessary to assert their rights and to bring violations to the attention of teachers, administrators and other parents so that they can help their children receive the kind of education to which they are legally entitled. Specifically, individual chapters deal with: a students' right to be treated fairly by a school disciplinary system; the First Amendment protection of freedom of speech and press; freedom of religion and the separation of church and state as it affects the public schools; personal appearance; the constitutional right of equal educational opportunity and the violation of this right because of racial or sexual discrimination; the common law and state control of education; federal statutory rights; parents' rights; and legal literacy for parents. It discusses ways parents can learn more about the law and ways that legal literacy can be improved throughout the country. It examines a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and common law rights that parents can assert on behalf of their children and their childrens' education. (Author/AM)