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On June 25, 2007, the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision in "Morse v. Frederick", a long-awaited ruling regarding student speech in public schools. For nearly twenty years, the Supreme Court had been silent on the issue while lower courts attempted to apply the rules announced in previous Supreme Court decisions. It is unclear what impact the "Morse" decision will have on the lower courts and the daily administration of schools. This article provides a brief overview of Supreme Court precedent pertaining to student speech, the specifics of the "Morse v. Frederick" decision, and an analysis of what this decision means for future student-speech decisions as well as for public school educators. (Contains 41 notes.)

Few topics evoke more emotion than how to discipline children in public schools. And not many people are neutral in their views toward corporal punishment. Surprisingly, the United States stands almost alone on its position regarding the legality of corporal punishment. Among thirty-five industrialized countries, only the United States and the Outback regions of Australia do not ban this disciplinary technique. And other than its use in public education, corporal punishment is banned in most U.S. government institutions, such as prisons and military bases. Although many European countries have prohibited corporal punishment in schools since the 1800s, the practice was not banned in the United Kingdom until the late 1980s, and there was no national ban of this disciplinary technique in Canada until 2004. Despite the absence of a national prohibition on corporal punishment in the United States, an increasing number of states and local school districts have adopted laws or regulations prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools. Only one state, New Jersey, prohibited corporal punishment by law in 1970, but by 2004, twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia had barred this disciplinary strategy in public education. In an additional state, Rhode Island, all local school districts prohibit corporal punishment even though there is no state law to that effect. Also, in nine states that still authorize corporal punishment in public schools, more than half the students are enrolled in districts that have adopted policies prohibiting this disciplinary technique. Most states still permitting corporal punishment are located in the southern region of the country. This article discusses the constitutional and state law issues of corporal punishment in public schools. (Contains 2 notes.)

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools has generated controversy for more than sixty years. On Flag Day, June 14, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped an opportunity to clarify the constitutionality of public school students reciting "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. But this issue is not going away. Following the Supreme Court's decision, several families voiced interest in mounting new challenges to the religious reference in the Pledge. This article analyzes the 2004 decision and explores how the Supreme Court might rule in a subsequent case regarding the constitutionality of saying the current Pledge in public schools.

Accompanying the explosive growth of the Internet have been concerns about protecting children from viewing pornographic and other harmful images through cyberspace. In the past few years, Congress has passed several acts to censor Internet sites available to children, but only the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) has received Supreme Court endorsement to date. In short, public libraries and schools must install filtering software on their computers as a condition of receiving the federal subsidies. CIPA does not specify which filters must be used and stipulates that the filters can be disabled in certain situations for adult patrons. The Supreme Court's endorsement of CIPA, although clearly a victory for groups trying to shield children from cyberspace pornography, does not resolve all the legal issues. Challenges involving the Internet seem destined to increase, and the Supreme Court recently agreed to review a case involving another federal law that imposes penalties on creators or transmitters of indecent Internet materials for commercial purposes if the materials are known to be accessible to minors. The legal questions go beyond concerns about freedom of speech and the protection of minors; there also are significant privacy concerns related to the increasing ease of cyberspace access to personal information about individuals. Undoubtedly, courts will continue to be confronted with complicated legal issues pertaining to sending and receiving transmissions via the Internet, and this is an area of law that school personnel should carefully watch.

This study investigated the credentials of 755 tenure-line educational leadership faculty members, using data collected through an online questionnaire. Findings disclosed that research institutions were significantly more likely than doctoral or comprehensive institutions to hire faculty with a PhD from a research university and who identified research as their primary professional strength. A greater proportion of faculty in comprehensive universities had served as school administrators before entering academe than was the case for those at research universities. These findings have significant implications for the field, given that an increasing number of school leaders nationally are prepared at comprehensive institutions.

This study examined faculty staffing patterns in 217 university-based leadership preparation programs, using data collected from an online questionnaire. Units rely on full-time educational leadership faculty, faculty from outside their units, and adjuncts to comprise their instructional core. Findings disclose that research institutions have smaller student-faculty ratios than other institution types, and units with enrollments exceeding 500 students employ significantly more adjuncts than institutions with smaller enrollments. Units are hiring more adjuncts and full-time clinical faculty, while employing fewer tenure-line faculty than reported in previous studies of the professoriate. In addition, full-time faculty numbers are not increasing proportionately with enrollment increases. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure, and 1 note.)

This study was conducted to develop a demographic profile of full-time educational leadership clinical faculty, to identify their professional responsibilities, and to compare their job satisfaction and perceptions of the educational leadership field with those of tenure-line faculty. Utilizing an online questionnaire, 140 clinical faculty and 755 tenure-line faculty responded to items regarding their personal characteristics, professional activities, and perceptions of the educational leadership profession. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and independent t-test procedures were employed to determine significant differences between clinical and tenure-line faculty. Clinical faculty represented 15.6% of respondents: 50% of clinical respondents were female, and 13.6% were faculty of color. Their mean age was 59.0 years, and 83.9% were former school administrators. Numerous statistically significant differences were found comparing clinical and tenure-line faculty. As would be expected, given the different job descriptions, clinical faculty devoted more time to teaching and advising, field-based activities, and problems of practice and less time to research/writing than did their tenure-line colleagues. Also, clinical respondents were more satisfied with their positions and with the quality of their preparation programs than were tenure-line faculty. The different beliefs and activities of tenure-line versus clinical faculty can create either tensions or opportunities as leadership preparation units engage in programmatic restructuring. (Contains 7 tables.)

Although benefits can be a sizable part of an educator's total compensation, there has been little scholarly inquiry into the state pension plans for educators. Despite the fact that all defined benefit plans rely on the same basic formula for calculating annual pensions, they vary across states in the multiplier used, the method for calculating final average salary, the cost of participating in the plan, whether caps are imposed on first-year benefits, how cost-of-living increases are made, whether benefits are subject to state income taxes, and whether educators can retain Social Security benefits. All of these factors can influence the total pension received by educators. Educators are unlikely to know the net effect of the parameters used in each state's plan on their net benefits and how the net benefits compare across states. This study addresses this aspect of educator compensation by analyzing the differences among state-run defined benefit plans and how these plans can affect the net benefits for educators. The first portion of this article reviews the empirical and theoretical literature on retirement benefits and their effects on the labor market decisions of educators. The second section describes how to calculate the net benefits from state-run defined benefit plans, and how the components of these plans can affect an educator's retirement compensation. Next, data are used on the defined benefit plans for educators in 49 states to estimate the net retirement compensation for educators and demonstrate how the net benefits vary across states. Finally, this article concludes with some suggested implications of changes in pension systems for educators and directions for future research. (Contains 8 tables, 1 figure, and 1 endnote.)

Traditional leadership preparation programs and licensure requirements give only token consideration to social justice concerns. This article examines the emerging social justice discourse in the educational administration field and discusses several challenges that must be considered as universities and others attempt to prepare school leaders for social justice critique and activism. Social justice scholarship in educational leadership emphasizes moral values, justice, respect, care, and equity; always in the forefront is a consciousness about the impact of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability on schools and students' learning. School leadership programs face the challenge of preparing new leaders to critically inquire into the structures and norms that result in inequitable schooling for many students and to undertake an advocacy role to influence educational policies to achieve social justice.

Reviews a few trends characterizing the preparation of school leaders since the mid-20th century. Discusses three current challenges facing educational leaders and those who prepare them: evaluation of preparation programs, standards-based reforms, and recruitment/pipeline issues. Argues that school leaders need to be creative and proactive in addressing these challenges. (Contains 70 references.) (Author/PKP)

Concerns over students' and staff members' safety in public schools continue to mount-- manifested in zero-tolerance policies, stringent disciplinary practices, and efforts to implement drug-screening programs. Although "reasonable suspicion" for searches and drug testing is the watchword, courts cannot agree on definitions. Legalities remain unresolved. (Contains 30 references.) (MLH)

The central federal question surrounding vouchers is whether participation of sectarian schools violates the First Amendment's Establishment clause. The U.S. Supreme Court, through its interpretation of the federal Constitution, may have the final word in determining voucher proposals' future. Litigation in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Vermont, and Maine is summarized. (Contains 51 references.) (MLH)

The U.S. Supreme Court through its interpretation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause may ultimately determine whether state-funded voucher proposals are widely adopted. This paper overviews changes in Establishment-Clause doctrine, reviews relevant litigation, and explores potential implications of recent legal developments. (Contains 80 references.) (MLH)

Schools are legally obligated to protect students from injury, report child abuse, and curtail harassment and hate crimes. Educators' duties to maintain safe school environments often conflict with students' constitutionally protected rights governing expression, appearance, unreasonable searches, and due process regarding zero-tolerance policies and penalties. (Contains 31 references.) (MLH)

School administrators are challenged to maintain the delicate balance between protecting individuals' rights and ensuring the general welfare by maintaining a safe, secure learning environment. Legal principles and precedents governing restrictions on student appearance, privacy and procedural rights, harassment and hate crimes, and suicide are discussed. (Contains 50 references.) (MLH)

Relatively few universities are redesigning preparation for educational leaders. Most curriculum, faculty activities, and attitudes remain constant. Signs of change include emphasis on foundations of education, ethics, and student-centered approaches, and more women in educational leadership faculty. (SK)

During the 1990s, a new breed of educational-leadership faculty members emerged with the potential to make administrator-preparation programs more relevant and responsive to today's pressing issues. Compared with more senior colleagues, the new breed entered academe at an older age, has more K-12 administrative experience, comprises more women, and is more committed to addressing everyday administrative problems. (17 references) (MLH)

Explores alleged abridgements of students' federal rights regarding sexual harassment by school employees or by classmates. Examines claims based on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Fourteenth Amendment. Despite federal protections, students carry a heavy burden of proof in establishing that their rights have been impaired by public school districts or authorities. (83 footnotes) (MLH)

Since the mid-1980s, judicial decisions have broadened school authorities' discretion to restrict student expression (in oral and written communications, grooming, and attire). The category of protected student expression has eroded. Despite replacement of the "Tinker" presumption favoring student expression with one favoring validity of school regulations, constraints must be justified by a sound educational rationale. (32 footnotes) (MLH)

Ella Flagg Young was the first woman superintendent of a large-city school system (Chicago, 1909-15) and the first woman president of the National Education Association (1910). A colleague of Dewey, Young pioneered democratic administrative practices in a scientific management era and organized school councils to give teachers a greater voice in decision making. (59 references) (MLH)

Young was the first woman to head a large city school system, the first woman to serve as head of a large teachers college, and the first woman president of the National Education Association. Her visionary accomplishments offer inspiration for current women administrators to continue in the quest to improve education. (LSR)