Suing the Schools for Fraud: Issues and Legal Strategies. Transcript of a Conference: Fraud in the Schools.

On November 20, 1972, a complaint was filed by Suzanne Martinez of the Youth Law Center against the San Francisco Unified School District and others on behalf of an 18-year-old plaintiff, identified as Peter W. Doe. Peter Doe had graduated with average grades, had never encountered serious disciplinary problems, and had maintained a regular attendance. Reading specialists who examined the plaintiff after his graduation from high school indicated that he was reading at the fifth grade level. The plaintiff later subscribed to reading tutoring and made significant progress. The complaint presented nine legal grounds of school district liability in the four general areas of negligence, misrepresentation, breach of statutory duties, and constitutional deprivation of right to education. At the conference recorded here, Ms. Martinez and a number of educational experts discussed the case and its implications for the future of litigation in this area. (Author/JF)