Education Law

Texas AG interprets state’s Merry Christmas Law in dispute over school employee’s poster

A Bible-quoting poster made by a school nurse’s aide in Killeen, Texas, has led to a disagreement over the meaning of the state’s Merry Christmas Law. On the one side is the board of the Patterson Middle School, which met on Tuesday and backed its principal’s decision to ask the…

Dec 15, 2016 11:48 AM CST

Dads sue over teens’ expulsion for alleged racist texts

The fathers of two white Catholic high school students in Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday over the teens’ expulsion for allegedly sending racist texts. The suit, which does not name the students or their fathers, alleges that officials at Marist High School made an arbitrary and capricious decision to…

Dec 8, 2016 1:27 PM CST

Trump University settles fraud suits for $25M; New York AG calls deal ‘a stunning reversal’

Trump University has agreed to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits claiming its real estate investment seminars defrauded students who paid $1,500 to $35,000 for classes. New York Attorney General announced the settlement Friday. Schneiderman called the deal “a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the…

Nov 18, 2016 2:57 PM CST

Court dockets will shrink as Donald Trump rescinds Obama administration actions

Lawsuits stemming from executive actions and legal interpretations by the Obama administration are likely to be removed from the U.S. Supreme Court docket and lower federal courts as a result of a shift in policies when Donald Trump takes office. Likely changes will affect cases involving immigration, the Affordable Care…

Nov 14, 2016 8:00 AM CST

Is cyberbullying free speech?

Bullying is a persistent problem for educators and lawmakers, particularly with the ubiquity and popularity of social media platforms. The problem has become so embedded in the culture that 23 states have cyberbully laws.

Nov 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Federal legislation aims to help students who are homeless or living in foster care

In the past, legislative efforts to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education generally overlooked the unique needs of children who are homeless or living in foster care.

Nov 1, 2016 12:40 AM CDT

College violated rights of accused student in sex misconduct hearing, Department of Education says

Wesley College didn’t interview a student it expelled for sexual misconduct, and that, among other things, violated his Title IX rights, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The student, accused of helping to livestream a male and female engaged in a sex act without the…

Oct 13, 2016 3:35 PM CDT

Campuses that handle sexual assaults must balance victims’ rights, due process

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics just 7 percent of college student sexual assaults were reported to police.

Oct 1, 2016 1:30 AM CDT

SCOTUS accepts case of autistic child to rule on education benefits for kids with disabilities

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of an autistic child who is attending private school because his parents were dissatisfied with the educational help provided by his public school in Colorado. The parents of Endrew F. are seeking reimbursement of the private-school tuition on the ground…

Sep 30, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Florida AG says she doesn’t regret accepting campaign money during NY probe of Trump University

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday said she doesn’t regret taking a $25,000 campaign contribution from Donald Trump when her counterpart in New York was investigating Trump University and her own office was receiving complaints about similar practices, the Associated Press reports. And she had no regrets about keeping…

Sep 20, 2016 4:30 PM CDT

ACLU sues Kansas City school district for handcuffing a crying 7-year-old

The ACLU of Missouri has sued the Kansas City Public Schools over a handcuffing incident involving an African-American 7-year-old boy. According to the Kansas City Star, the second-grader was handcuffed by a school police officer in 2014 after he started crying uncontrollably in class at George Melcher Elementary School. The…

Sep 16, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Former Berkeley dean who was accused of harassing his assistant files race-discrimination action

Sujit Choudhry, the former dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law accused of sexually harassing his executive assistant, filed a due process and equal protection action against the UC system on Thursday. Choudhry resigned as dean after his assistant, Tyann Sorrell, filed a lawsuit against the…

Sep 16, 2016 11:30 AM CDT

‘Debt strike’ launched by ITT Tech alums after schools shut down

Following the recent closure of the for-profit ITT Educational Services, a group of 100 people who attended ITT Technical Institutes announced that they will not be repaying their loans, because they claim to have been defrauded. The “debt strike” is calculated to pressure the government into cancelling their debt, the…

Sep 15, 2016 11:30 AM CDT

Detroit students are being deprived of their constitutional right to literacy, says federal lawsuit

Detroit students are being denied their constitutional right to literacy, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by various well-known U.S. Supreme Court advocates. The case was brought on behalf of seven children, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press report. They’re represented by the Los Angeles pro bono…

Sep 14, 2016 1:10 PM CDT

Some students may be eligible for loan discharge after ITT closes 130 campuses

The for-profit school ITT Educational Services closed more than 130 campuses Tuesday, blaming the development on a federal aid ban for new students. The U.S. Department of Education in 2014 expressed “significant concerns” about the school’s organization and financial viability, and recently found that it was not in compliance with…

Sep 7, 2016 3:30 PM CDT