LAW 741: Law and Education
Professor Leora Harpaz
Summer 2019
Class Meetings: Online on Tuesday/Thursday 6:00-7:50 p.m.
Course Webpage: http://www.wneclaw.com/lawedonline/
 

Course Description:
This course focuses on legal issues in public education. Topics will include student free speech rights both in school and on social media, the constitutionality of student dress codes, integration of the public schools, searches of student lockers and other personal belongings, prayer in the schools, religious exemptions from mandatory immunizations, due process limits on student discipline, and constitutional issues concerning school funding and access to education.

Required Reading Materials:
The readings for the course have all been prepared by the instructor. They consist of introductory material for each subject followed by edited versions of court opinions on the various subjects covered in the course. These readings are available as PDF documents. The material is divided into chapters with each one devoted to a covered subject. The list of assignments below divides the chapters into reading assignments for each class. Students will not be required to purchase a casebook or other reading material. However, you should treat the material as a printed casebook and print out the pages so you can mark them up as you read and have them available during class so you can more effectively participate in class discussions.

Questions Before Class:
In connection with each reading assignment, there are posted questions that you should attempt to answer before class. These Questions Before Class are designed to help you prepare for class discussion by focusing on relevant facts, legal analysis, and your own assessment of how the court should treat some of the issues presented in a case. While the actual discussion in class will range beyond the Questions Before Class, they should nevertheless help you to engage in that discussion. This list is available on the course website and will be updated so that questions for particular reading assignments are available at least several classes in advance.

Classroom Materials:
All Classroom Materials prepared for use in class in connection with a reading assignment will be posted on the course website in advance of each class and remain available throughout the semester.  

Optional Reading Materials:
In addition to the assigned reading, I have prepared a list of links to material related to each chapter of the required reading as well as some additional categories of links. This list of Optional Class Materials is available on the course website and will be updated frequently.

In Lieu of Office Hours:
I will not be available at the law school since I now live in New York City. The best way to communicate with me is via email. Where it seems useful, we can also set up a phone call to avoid extensive emailing. In addition, I will stay online after each class is over to answer questions until all students have signed out of the virtual classroom.

Assignments:
Each numbered assignment represents the reading for a single class. However, if we do not complete our discussion of the assigned material, we will complete it in the next class before beginning the next assignment. You should read one full assignment ahead until you are told otherwise.

Chapter One - Free Speech Rights of Students

1. Pages 1-27 (Introduction, Tinker, Fraser, Kuhlmeier, and Morse v. Frederick)

2. Pages 27-51 (D.J.M., Cuff, Hardwick, Broussard, and Guiles)

3. Pages 51-78 (Doninger, Layshock, Canady, Lowry, Frudden, and Pyle)

Chapter Two - Equal Protection and Public School Education

4. Pages 79-103 (Introduction, Brown, Grutter, Gratz, and Parents Involved in Community Schools)

5. Pages 103-132 (United States v. Virginia, A.N.A., Doe, Plyler, Martinez, Rodriguez, and Kadrmas)

Chapter Three -  The Fourth Amendment in the Public Schools

6. Pages 133-162 (Introduction, T.L.O., Safford, Acton, Earls, and Additional Situations)

Chapter Four - Religion and the Public School: The Establishment Clause

7. Pages 163-191 (Introduction, McCollum, Zorach, Engel, Schempp, Stone and Wallace)

8. Pages 191-219  (Weisman, Doe, Newdow)

9. Pages 219-246 (Epperson, Edwards, Mergens, Lamb’s Chapel, and Good News Club)

Chapter Five - Religion and the Public School: The Free Exercise Clause

10. Pages 247-271 (Introduction, Yoder, Griffith, and A.A. ex rel. Betenbaugh)

11. Pages 271-293 (Vaccination Requirements, Workman, Phillips, Parker, and Combs)

Chapter Six - Teacher Free Speech Rights

12. Pages 293-306 (Introduction, Weintraub, Mayer, and Spanierman)

Chapter Seven - Procedural and Substantive Due Process

13. Pages 307-335 (Introduction, Goss v. Lopez, C.Y. v. Lakeview Public Schools, Introduction to Corporal Punishment, Ingraham v. Wright, Garcia v. Miera, Payne v. Peninsula Sch. Dist.)

Grading:
The course will be graded exclusively by a final exam. The exam will be in the form of a “take-home” exam rather than an in-class exam using the ExamSoft software described on the Law Registrar’s Exam Information webpage. This software allows the exams to be sent to me anonymously. The exam will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions and essay questions with a specific number of points allocated to each section of the exam. The essay questions will be graded by the use of a grading sheet that assigns a maximum number of points to each issue to be discussed. An example will be provided before the exam is distributed. After adding the number of points earned on all sections of the exam, the numerical totals will then be curved and converted to the letter grading and grade distribution system used by the law school. The exam will be distributed before the last class on July 10th and will be due July 20th.

Ethical Guidelines:
The answers to the take-home exam are to be your own work. Collaborating with someone else is not permitted.

Class Participation:
According to American Bar Association Standard 306 for the approval of law schools, credit for a distance education course requires there be “opportunity for regular and substantive interaction between faculty and student and among students.” To satisfy this standard, students are expected to participate in class discussions.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will learn to understand the reasoning in judicial opinions that analyze legal issues that arise in the public school context including free speech rights of students and teachers, equal protection, search and seizure, separation of church and state, freedom of religion, and procedural and substantive due process rights. They will learn to identify and understand the legal standards used in court opinions to resolve legal disputes in these areas and apply those standards to a variety of different factual situations. They will examine how the courts balance the rights of individual students and teachers against the interests of the school administration in maintaining order, creating an appropriate learning environment, and protecting the rights of all students and faculty members and consider whether the courts are striking the correct balance.

Attendance:
The Law School Handbook includes the following language: “Regular and punctual class attendance is mandatory, as required by the American Bar Association. This policy reflects the belief that dependability is an essential characteristic of a good lawyer. The policy objectives are to ensure academic success, of which attendance is a major component, and to develop standards of professionalism.” It also specifies that “[a]ny student who fails to attend at least 80% of the regularly scheduled class meetings, without excuse acceptable to the faculty member, has not met this Standard.” In this course, applying the 80% requirement, the maximum number of permissible absences without an acceptable excuse is two. Therefore, a student is subject to withdrawal after missing three classes without an acceptable excuse. Attendance in an online course is monitored by students signing in and “attending” the online class. Students should limit missing class to illness and family or other emergencies. Students who must be absent from class can request an excused absence.