Data and Respectability in Confusing Times

Lately I have been sitting at my computer day after endless day crunching numbers. Meanwhile, as I am wont to do, I keep up with politics. It is no surprise this has been an exciting year for politics and the mass confusion surrounding the democratic primary has kept things interesting.

But, throughout this whole process have you noticed who is getting the most respect? Its the numbers guys and it is not even close. Chuck Todd, the numbers guy for MSNBC is probably respected as the best analyst this season and was probably the first mainstream media guy to understand that Sen. Obama won the primary in February as he ran up the numbers on Sen. Clinton. Also, Poblano, who runs the electoral statistics site fivethirtyeight.com (the number of electoral college votes) has gained wide acclaim for his amazing statistical projections, even calling the latest round of primaries in North Carolina and Indiana closer than ANY of the polls using statistical calculations based on demographics and past voting patterns. These two guys, and a few others (CNN's county by county maps have been very helpful), have actually managed to GAIN respect during this primary season as so many other talking heads seem increasingly like opinionated, partisan dimwits that know less about politics than most bloggers.

All of this has lead to my conclusion that there is something about quantitative data that is comforting in confusing times. All of these talking heads are going around speaking with people, listening to speeches, and gathering other qualitative-type evidence which they translate into bombastic opinions hour after hour on the news networks. But, Chuck Todd comes on MSNBC for a 2 min. segment and says more than all the hours of opinion combined. The numbers tell the story here folks, the rest is just fluff.

What is really, really odd about all this is just how simple some of these calculations are and yet we look at these numbers folks as geniuses. Most of what Chuck Todd does is counting, throw in a little addition and subtraction and boom you have a REAL analysis of the state of the race. Check out these ABC Charts and Graphs (ppt) that were put out today that are getting wide acclaim across the Net. Are you kidding me? My high school students could have done that. CNN's awesome county maps are no more than disaggregating the number of votes by county and then calculating a simple percentage. Poblano's statistics are little more involved because he calculates error for weighting purposes, but past that he is using pretty much just percentages disaggregated by state.

My conclusion is then that even simple, easily calculated data can be extremely powerful in confusing times. When everyone knows what's going on and there is general agreement, the numbers are quite meaningless. They just reaffirm the general knowledge, which is nice, but somewhat unnecessary. But, when no one knows what's going on, everyone falls back on the numbers and we put the numbers folks up on a pedestal. As computers become more and more powerful and numbers can be increasingly calculated and posted to the Web automatically in preformed graphical packages (ala Poblano's and CNN's sites). We need to integrate this more into education. Think of a Poblano site for education. Here is the recipe: It takes a certain amount of basic statistical knowledge (which any Doc. Student should have), a basic Web 2.0 knowledge, knowledge of Excel, and a general curiosity. That's it. But with that simple recipe, you can control the conversation in confusing times.

Okay, back to crunching numbers. 

ECS and Web 2.0

One of the best but least known resources in the Education World are the StateNotes put out by the Education Commission of the States. Many fellow researchers are vaguely familiar with them and I see them referred to occasionally in scholarly writing, but the StateNotes and the ECS Issue Sites are rarely a education scholar's first stop when looking for information on a given topic (they are probably a first stop for policy folks and legislative aides). This lack of use by scholars is unfortunate as the StateNotes and Issue Sites are a great way to quickly access 50 state laws and regulations as well as relevant research reports and other publications on most education topics. You don't have to be an education law scholar to use this stuff and it would be a great way for non-legal scholars to look at the law as applied to their topic and integrate it into their thinking.

Having worked at ECS and seen the process in action, I can give a little insiders info. First, Kathy Christie, who is now the Chief of Staff, and the good folks of the Information Clearinghouse maintain what has to be one of the best education policy libraries in the U.S. There is a row of file cabinets organized by topic and every time a new report comes out the report is filed under the appropriate topic. This has been going on for years and years so it is pretty extensive. Anyway, then a lot of that information finds its way to links on the web under ECS Issue Sites and those reports spur research that becomes ECS StateNotes. Sometimes these things are sponsored by corporations and sometimes they are part of broader research projects, but they try to get as much information on the Web as they can and make it as recent and relevant as they can. (Disclaimer: I wrote 4 StateNotes (1), (2), (3), (4), in my time with ECS, so obviously I want them to be used more).

Here are some new ECS StateNotes that relate to education law for instance:

School Prayer, Moment of Silence, Other Policies Concerning Religion (March 2008) - Michael Colasanti

State Education Governance Models (March 2008) - Mary Fulton

State Collective Bargaining Policies for Teachers (Jan. 2008) - Michael Colasanti

Okay, couple things here. First, I want more scholars and education students to use ECS. It should be a site that we professors encourage students to use and that we bookmark in our browsers. So, we need to do a better job of using this resource. Especially education law scholars because a lot of what ECS does relates to law and policy.

Secondly, however, it would be nice if ECS made their site more Web 2.0 friendly. For instance, it would be nice if each time they put out a new StateNote, they would RSS it so that it showed up in my aggregator. I am a busy guy so I don't think to check ECS every couple months to see what's new. They need to bring whats new to me.  At a minimum, it would be nice if they would RSS their E-Connections newsletter which does sort of summarize what's new, but in the bevy of daily e-mails in my inbox I often neglect to open. I did notice they have recently RSSed their E-Clips, which is daily report of 5-6 news articles across the country that ECS Staff feel are valuable. The RSS Link can be found here. If you RSSed these things you could not only do a better job of notifying your audience when new resources are available, but also you could make widgets which could be embedded on the Web. I made a widget of the E-Clips RSS feed to show what is possible (you can put that on your site if you want, just click on options to get the HTML Code).

Also, in addition to RSSing everything, it would be nice if they expanded their web presence with blogs. A lot of policy organizations are blogging these days (the latest is the Fordham Foundation's FlyPaper) but ECS is not blogging ... at all. So in the increasingly powerful blogosphere (it has made Andy Rotherham a star) ECS has no voice and other policy organizations are managing to gain more and more influence with the Web 2.0 generation as we begin to fill policy, academic, and practitioner positions. Having worked there I think a blog similar to FlyPaper or the Quick and the Ed would be fairly easy to do. Policy folks such as Jennifer Dounay, Mary Fulton, Michael Griffith and Kyle Zinth have a lot of knowledge and great things to say that doesn't all come out in ECS publications.

I just love my old employer and I want to see them used more in scholarly circles. I think with a little effort on both sides we can do a lot better job.

Suspended for Not Standing During Pledge

Three students were suspended in rural Minnesota for not standing during the pledge. The school has a policy that requires students to stand for the pledge, but does not require the students to actually recite the pledge.

This is an interesting little case. I think the law is pretty clear that you cannot force participation in the pledge, but is standing participation? Is the standing showing respect for the flag, the country, or just the other students in the room? If it can be classified only as the latter and not former, it might be okay. However, my feeling is that standing was required to encourage participation in respect of the flag and country. If that is the case, then the policy was probably unconstitutional.

Nevertheless, a nice little exam question.

Friday Snippets: 5/9/08 - Not Quite the End of Vouchers

A pretty busy week here at the end of the school year:



A big story this week was the San Diego State drug bust. The student's have now plead not guilty. Frankly, I am a little surprised this does not happen more often. I don't think it is all that difficult so it might be from a lack of trying.



Another big story this week was the Facebook agreement. More from BoardBuzz. Although my ear to the ground says that MySpace is getting more popular again.



More evidence that your school e-mail account is not safe from FOIA. Law Professor e-mails released to public in West Virginia.



The New York Times finally picks up the school lawyers scandal.
Thankfully, this story is beginning to cool down so although I would
classify this is an eruption, it was only a minor one and it looks to
stay that way. Had the times focused on this story earlier, there could
have been a lot more public outcry. (And thankfully (or not depending
on your viewpoint I guess) the Presidential race is drowning out a lot
of stories this year).



Reading teachers in Connecticut are going to have to take a test on teaching reading before they can be licensed.



A House Bill in Louisiana says that kids should not be allowed to wear body armor in schools. (Who has body armor just lying around?)



Michigan, always a leader in special education, might be taking a step back in some districts.



But, I can't be disappointed with Michigan this week because of this good idea from a State Senator: 16 & 17 year olds should be able to vote in School Board Elections. Why not? It affects their lives more than any other.



New Hampshire takes another stab at a school funding plan.



Indiana was not the only state to allow a school funding lawsuit to proceed ... Montana did too.



Service dogs are allowed in schools in Virginia.



More on the Virginia Internet Safety Classes.



No recruiting by Boy Scouts while classes are in session in Greenwich.



As is always the case, in battles between Governors and State Superintendents of Education ... Governors win. Susan Tave Zelman, from Ohio and of voucher fame, is looking for a new job.





And around the blogosphere:



Mark Walsh has a great story
on John McCain and the Newdow case. Interesting to see how that case
has been used as a fear tactic even years after it was decided. Also, 13 felony convictions ... apparently 1 too many to be a teacher. Great stuff Mark.



Jim Gerl does a bit of reflecting on recognizing discrimination and how all of us can occasionally miss it.



The Higher Ed Law Prof Blog shuts down. If you are a higher ed law prof ... I encourage you to restart it. The Law Professor Blogs Network
is a great network and will give you a lot of hits (and some authority)
right away. Sad to see it go, but I could see that coming for a while.



But the Adjunct Law Prof Blog is still going strong. Lots of stuff this week on unions, FMLA, NLRB, etc.



David Hoff has details on the new NCLB Regulations Public Hearings ... go let your voice be heard.



Title IX blogs has details on a sexual harassment case in Texas, which has since been dismissed for lack of "actual knowledge."



I enjoyed BoardBuzz's story on Colbert and Truthiness ... and helping schools.



Finally, an interesting discussion is taking place over at Michelle McNeil's blog regarding vouchers. (1) Greg Anrig says vouchers are out of fashion. (2) Michelle disagrees. (3) Checker Finn weighs in. (4) Greg responds. (5) Michele asks for input (and I gave some and encourage you to do the same). Great discussion though. Michele has been doing great work at Campaign K-12 and I encourage you to add her to your aggregator.





And for your Friday Fun: Check out these amazing pictures of the eruption of the volcano Chaitén in Chile.  It is rare to see a pyroclastic cloud,
but even more rare perhaps to see one so electrically active. These are
probably once in a lifetime pictures, so they are worth a look.



Here is more on the eruption from MSNBC (video). h/t David Kurtz at TPM. 




PhotoCredit: Poppyseed Bandits

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets 5/9/08

Hating Paper

So, I am dissertating right now (feeling on the downhill slope finally). God it is horrible.

Anyway, I am really hating the strict format. I am so confined in what I can do with information. The medium is so static. I am not a person that likes to read data in black and white on a page. I am a person that likes to see and play with data. I don't want to read in a paragraph that 34% said X, 26% said Y and 40% said Z. I like to see a pie chart in those situations. It gives me a better feel for who is saying what relative to others.

Anyway, thought I would share a little data to illustrate my point of how much more powerful a dynamic medium can be. For my dissertation I am breaking everything down into bits and spitting out 1 bit at a time. That is a great way of creating a couple hundred pages worth of black and white paragraphs (which seems to be the goal), but not a great way of communicating the big picture. If I do get to add a chart, the most variables I can accommodate without causing mass confusion is 2 and maybe 3 if I used 3 dimensional charts

Compare that to this (press play and feel free to click around in it ... it's dynamic)

If you get an error message below, click this link (shows the motion chart in front of the data used to create it).

This is a chart that tracks multiple variables, as many as you want actually. In this case I have 5 variables at play but could easily add more. In this chart I am showing (1) year of licensure, (2) institution of licensure, (3) average attendance rate at all the schools lead by administrators licensed at that institution in the given year, (4) average enrollment rate at all the schools lead by administrators licensed at that institution in the given year, and (5) average free lunch percent at all the schools lead by administrators licensed at that institution in the given year. Plus, this chart animates change over time and let's the user change the variables to whatever combination they desire. Cool, right? Really, cool if you ask me. But, this is not going to be in the dissertation because the form prevents the function. Nor is this going to be in any print journals.

I am reminded of Michael Wesch's Information Revolution.

What is so utterly frustrating is that I have the tools and knowledge to do better than traditional forms of scholarship will allow ... but that tradition is limiting practice. I have to conform my dissertation to the traditional confines even though it comes at the expense of quality.

By the way, case you were wondering, the chart above was created with Google Motion Chart out of Google Docs. If you are not using Google Docs yet, you need to try it.

Academic Freedom, Garcetti & Blogging

Jon Becker has an interesting discussion going on over at Educational Insanity on Blogging and Free Speech Rights. I encourage you to check it out and leave a comment.  (Also, Lisa Nielsen, Teacher 2.0)

My take: Under Garcetti I wouldn't feel to comfortable about anything that you say on a blog being protected. Of course like most things in law this depends on the facts surrounding the situation (if you are blogging at home about your Disney infatuation, fine). Anyway, anything that could reasonably be related to your official job duties as a public educator is likely not protected. Now, I can't tell you exactly how far that line extends because the law is just developing in this area, but to be on the safe side I would not say anything that you would not be comfortable saying in front of the school board ... because that may ultimately be who decides your fate.

But, that is not to discourage either teachers or professors or any other public employee from blogging. I have nearly 300 posts and certainly less than 5 times I found myself asking whether I should post something. It is just not that big of an issue if you are intending to run a professional, informational blog. I am fine sharing feelings but I avoid saying negative things about my employer and I avoid making extremely controversial statements. Just remember that the blog is public (don't say things you wouldn't say in mixed company) so a healthy dose of common sense is the best guide.

Thoughts on Dr. Suellen Reed and Apolitical Education in Indiana

A few days ago we learned that Dr. Suellen Reed is stepping down from her long held (16 years) post of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (Michele McNeil sums up her time here). So, I just want to give a little reflection on her work and how it affected me.

I came to Indiana from Illinois, where my friend Randy Dunn had just taken over the Superintendency in Illinois after the Governor had sort of run off the previous Superintendent. Now Randy is President of Murray State and another person I worked with in my time dealing with Special Education in Illinois, Chris Koch, is now the Superintendent. Anyway, needless to say there is a lack of stability in that leadership position in Illinois. During my time in Illinois, it mattered which political party I belonged to (at least which political party the people I associated with belonged to) in how much access you had to the ear of state educational leaders.

Literally the first week I moved here I met Dr. Reed. I was invited by my mentor Martha McCarthy to a Indiana Network of Women Administrators meeting, which was scheduled in conjunction with an IUSAA meeting. (I tried to tell Martha I was not actually a woman, even though people think I sound like one on the phone, but she insisted I come along). Dr. Reed was present at the meeting and as the somewhat cramped room began to fill in she sat next me (no one knew me, plus I am a man, so no surprise there was a spot open). Martha introduced us and we chatted about this and that a little. Anyway, it was a nice, welcoming way to start my education career here in Indiana.

Since that time I have had the chance to have more substantive meetings with Dr. Reed (she has a marvelous office in the Indiana Statehouse I am sure she will miss) and she has always been very receptive to my work in conjunction with other scholars here at IU. I found her to be knowledgeable, committed, caring, passionate about kids, creative ... pretty much exactly what you would want in a State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She is going to be extremely difficult to replace.

I am not sure I agree with everything she has done in her time, but with Dr. Reed you knew the kids were the first priority. Not politics. Not agendas. Not egos. Kids. And when your priorities are in the right place it is amazing how little the political label after your name means. And her apolitical, kids first style translated down the entire education system. I have found Indiana's education system to be FAR less political of that of Illinois. In Indiana the focus is on the schools, not on the relationships you can glean with other people to further your political ambitions and I think Dr. Reed deserves a lot of credit for that. 

The last time I saw her was 2 weeks ago. We met by chance outside the
School of Ed in Bloomington and chatted about our gardens and the
semester concluding (perhaps not so much by chance, I think she would make an excellent clinical faculty member at her alma mater - just a suggestion). I wish I had known she was hanging it up then. I would
have thanked her for her excellent leadership in person. But, the blog will have to do until I bump into her again.

So, thanks Dr. Reed for your great work. Enjoy Retirement!

Letting Parents into the Classroom Electronically

Here is an interesting story (video) from ABC on electronic notifications that allow parents to track students grades and attendance. The online software featured in the video is called ParentCONNECT, which is produced by Pearson Education. You can see a screenshot of the information it offers in the image to the right (right click- view image, to see larger version).

Now, I like this information being shared with parents. There is really no reason not to share this information as most of it is tracked electronically these days and giving access is just a matter of permissions. But this can not be the ONLY information you share with parents. As in pretty much everything else in life, numbers with no context lead people to bad decisions. You can't just say here is the kids GPA, here is his score on assignment X, here is how many times a kid was late to class without knowing what is going on in the school that is leading to those numbers.

So here is the problem with this kind of technology. You are giving parents just enough information to be dangerous but not enough information to actually know what is going on. Can this surface-level information lead to parent-teacher meetings, phone calls, discussions with your kids? Sure. I would hope so. But as you saw in the video, a parent's natural reaction to this is to track it like a stock price. The price goes up, good. The price goes down, bad. Why is the price going up and down? Who knows, but we know that up is good and down is bad and you punish bad and reward good.

This kind of technology is easy and safe and doesn't require a lot of effort, which is probably why it is beginning to be used so widely. I think this is a good use of technology and I don't mean to suggest we should throw it out the window, but it is surface-level only. And surface-level information is usually not good enough.

Now, let me show you what's technologically possible with a little extra effort. Check out Mr. Williams 6th Grade Math. Cool, eh? You combine that kind of classroom level information with the student's progress scores and suddenly parents have some context for the scores. You see that when the math grades dropped slightly, the issue was adding integers, for instance, and Mr. Williams was kind enough to provide you the slideshow used for that lesson so you can go back with your son and daughter and address the reasons for the drop in grades. But, providing this kind of context is much more difficult. I don't know how much time Mr. Williams devotes to the blog each week, but to do it right probably requires at least a half hour a day. It takes a pretty devoted teacher to give that kind of time on top of everything else that is happening and without reward or demand structures in place, this kind of information sharing is going to continue to be a rarity. So, we need to move toward expecting the kinds of information sharing that Mr. Williams is doing and refusing to allow the quick fix, ParentCONNECT, to be the only fix. 

School Finance Plaintiffs Win Appeal to Indiana Supreme Court

The Indiana Supreme Court has rendered a decision in the school finance case of Bonner v. Daniels. Short version: Students won a pretty major decision.

Essentially this round was over standing and justiciability in court. What was not decided was the liability of the state in this case. That issue was remanded so a final decision on the merits is yet to come.  But, in the larger picture the standing and justiciability issues are pretty important decisions as it puts Indiana in line with many other states that allow for such challenges to school funding policies.

A little background. Indiana is a foundation formula state with a complexity index, but their foundation formula has fallen increasingly out of use in lieu of a Guaranteed Minimum Revenue formula. Also, the Foundation Formula does not cover everything, so school buildings, school technology, school busing and some other stuff must be covered through local property taxes. For more background see this presentation by my colleague Rob Toutkoushian. 

In the case, the court found that Bonner had standing to represent the class of individuals that are affected by Indiana's school funding policies. Further, the court found that redressibility (the legislature may do nothing as a result of this case) was also not a concern as it is the court's job to declare rights under the law, whether or not such declarations force action on the part of other branches of government. The Court even cited Marbury v. Madison on this principle. Finally, the court found that Governor Daniels, Superintendent Reed (who has announced her retirement), and the State Board of Education were properly named as defendants. As to justiciability, the court found that it could reasonably interpret the Education Clause of the Indiana Constitution and that doing so would not be an essentially legislative function.

Now, the case heads back down to determine whether Bonner can prove the Indiana General Assembly fulfilled its duties under the Education Clause. Whatever the lower court decides, look for it to be back at the Indiana Supreme Court in a couple years. Given their language in this case, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Court rule in the plaintiff's favor.

Friday Snippets 05/02/08 - Teachers and Bikinis and Keeping their Jobs

Little lighter this week as I was out of town.


Evolution Update: Florida, Louisiana



A little more Jena 6 fallout.



Idaho's District Court is reconsidering what to do to force changes in Idaho's school funding system.



Sometimes the school finance lawsuits pay off handsomely.

An anti-bullying bill in Florida passed the legislature and is expected to be signed by the Governor. BullyPolice calls it the "BEST Anti-Bullying Law written to date" and has the text.



Massachusetts comes out with a new anti-bullying guide.



However, Louisiana's anti-bullying bill hits a roadblock.



Minnesota's House passes an age appropriate, mandatory sex education plan.



Principals have to answer questions in Illinois over their bilingual education programs ... or lack thereof.



Illinois Legislators are protecting your children from the Internet (they think).



Turf v. Grass - Give me the grass.



Scott McLeod sends over the latest hot teacher lifestyle firing. Teacher wears bikini on a fishing charter ... fired. (video)



Scott also has a tennis coach blindfolding students,
putting them in the middle of the court, and ordering the rest of the
team to fire tennis balls at them. Ahh, coaches. Constant legal issues
with them.



And around the blogosphere:

I want to start with Jim Gerl's request for information on the connection between special education due process usage and poverty.
I think Jim is right that there is a connection there and a little
research could probably document it. If I were not so busy Jim I would
look into it with you. Maybe later this year or next year. Anyway, Jim
has hit on a really good research project here and if anyone wants to
help I am sure he would appreciate it.

What I consider the big news of the week is that the Sixth Circuit is going to rehear en banc their NCLB decision. Mark Walsh has the details.
When that decision came down you had to know this was a big
possibility, so now we will see what the full Sixth Circuit has to say.
My guess is that they will go the other way.

Mark also has the end of the Connecticut NCLB challenge & BoardBuzz reflects on the branches of government that are making educational law ... and the one (legislature) that is not.

Karl Romberger gives thoughts on ability grouping in Pennsylvania.

Erin Buzuvis questions the application of Gebser to athletics. The Title IX Blog also has a link to a new study out of Israel that finds co-educational classrooms benefit everyone.



The Higher Ed Law Prof Blog is getting annoyed that teachers continue to be fired for refusing to sign loyalty oaths.



The Adjunct Law Prof Blog has more professors suing students. (Now that I am switching teams ... it sounds fine to me.) Mitchell also has blogs being incorporated into law classes.



Pamela Parker wonders what happened to May Day in Texas schools.



Kevin Carey has the fall of vouchers.

Jonathan Adler at the Volokh Conspiracy calls the recent anti-evolution academic freedom tact academic fraud.



Howard Friedman has a settlement in the case of religious art restrictions in school.





And for your Friday Fun ... you can check out pictures of the house I just bought (more).
It backs to a school, which I like, although I am not sure how I am
going to keep my son off the playground equipment. Also, if anyone
loves to refinish hardwood floors and doesn't mind driving to Lexington
...

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets 05/02/08

Law Day!!! - Really?

Today is Law Day ... so says the President.

The theme of this year's Law Day, "The Rule of Law:
Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity," recognizes the
fundamental role that the rule of law plays in preserving liberty in our
Nation and in all free societies. We pay tribute to the men and women in
America's legal community. Through hard work and dedication to the rule of
law, members of the judiciary and the legal profession help secure the
rights of individuals, bring justice to our communities, and reinforce the
proud traditions that make America a beacon of light for the world.

Wow!!! I wasn't aware we were so important ... oh wait, yes I was.

There is absolutely no need whatsoever for a national Law Day. Are lawyers important to society ... absolutely yes. Do they already know that ... absolutely yes. There are not many lawyers that are not aware of their role in society. We are talking about a pretty confident bunch here that already sees themselves as the philosopher-kings of America. We even tell ourselves that we are taught in the style set forth by Socrates himself. Lawyers are an extremely arrogant bunch already, there is really no need to reinforce that notion with a national day for Lawyers.

I want lawyers to have that confidence and arrogance, because it is a necessary part of their job ... but I want them to have it quietly. If you truly are the philosopher-kings of society, then how about showing a little more humility. This national law day is embarrassing to me.  

Teachers and the Web: A Recipe for Disaster

Teachers don't seem to get the fact that the Web is a public place. I don't really know why, but they just don't. Teachers would never do the kind of dumb things they do on the Web in their classroom or even a public park. The Web is just as public, if not more public, than these places yet they seem to think they can just post whatever they want and no one will know.

From today's Washington Post:

It's almost like Googling someone: Log on to Facebook. Join the
Washington, D.C., network. Search the Web site for your favorite school
system. And then watch the public profiles of 20-something teachers
unfurl like gift wrap on the screen, revealing a sense of humor that
can be overtly sarcastic or unintentionally unprofessional -- or both.

One Montgomery County
special education teacher displayed a poster that depicts talking sperm
and invokes a slang term for oral sex. One woman who identified herself
as a Prince William County
kindergarten teacher posted a satiric shampoo commercial with a
half-naked man having an orgasm in the shower. A D.C. public schools
educator offered this tip on her page: "Teaching in DCPS -- Lesson #1:
Don't smoke crack while pregnant."

Just to be clear, these are not teenagers, the typical Internet
scofflaws and sources of ceaseless discussion about cyber-bullying,
sexual predators and so on. These are adults, many in their 20s, who
are behaving, for the most part, like young adults.

But the crudeness of some Facebook or MySpace
teacher profiles, which are far, far away from sanitized Web sites
ending in ".edu," prompts questions emblematic of our times: Do the
risque pages matter if teacher performance is not hindered and if
students, parents and school officials don't see them? At what point
are these young teachers judged by the standards for public officials?

Via Joanne Jacobs

No Drug Dogs in Canadian Schools

Continuing with our "America is Different" theme ...

The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that random searches by drug sniffing dogs are illegal under their Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Mark Walsh has the details.

Here is some of the relevant language:

The dog sniff amounts to a search within s. 8 of
the Charter.  The information provided when the dog is trained to alert
to the presence of controlled drugs permits inferences about the precise
contents of the source that are of interest to the police.  The subject matter
of the sniff is not public air space.  It is the concealed contents of the
backpack.  As with briefcases, purses and suitcases, backpacks are the
repository of much that is personal, particularly for people who lead itinerant
lifestyles during the day as in the case of students and travellers. 
Teenagers may have little expectation of privacy from the searching eyes and
fingers of their parents, but they expect the contents of their backpacks not
to be open to the random and speculative scrutiny of the police.  This
expectation is a reasonable one that society should support.  The guilty secret
of the contents of the accused’s backpack was specific and meaningful
information, intended to be private, and concealed in an enclosed space in
which the accused had a continuing expectation of privacy.  By use of the dog,
the policeman could “see” through the concealing fabric of the backpack.

Reading that one can't help but conclude that the Canadian approach and the American approach to enforcement of Constitutional Rights are fundamentally different. Here the Canadian Supreme Court is expansively reading their Charter to encompass its general intent applied to this new situation. Lately, however, the American Supreme Court narrowly reads Constitutional Provisions looking for exceptions. On the same issue our lower courts have concluded that the air around the backpack is public, thus, the dog sniff does not constitute technically constitute a "search."

There is so much rich information if one were to study differences in educational law across national boundaries. However, so few educational law scholars actually engage in this kind of work. As the world continues to shrink ... we are gonna need more work in this area.

PhotoCredit: Lone Primate - Canadian Supreme Court Building (I like the progressively smaller windows in the roof)

American Teachers Don't Know How to Strike

When teachers strike in other countries ... they really strike.

The latest, a nationwide teachers strike in the UK. 9,000 schools closed in whole or part affecting nearly 3 million kids.

BBC News Video. More: (1) Union answers questions (2) Government Response.

Guardian Story. More.

Times of London.

I am not saying American Teachers need to do the same because of our decentralized system, but this gives a whole different meaning to "bargaining power."

Friday Snippets - 4/25/08 - Chasing Bananas

On we roll another week.

The big news of the week is the NCLB regulatory changes. Summary. Full Changes. H/T David Hoff. (I will offer thoughts when I have more time to parse through it).



10 students ran around school dressed as bananas. 1, dressed as a gorilla, chased them. All were suspended. Image. Video. Pretty creative, boys.

The case of the coach in Ohio who wouldn't get rid of his Bible gets significantly more interesting ... allegedly he burnt crosses into his student's skin. Whoa. Oddly Ohio also passed a teacher misconduct bill on the same day this came out ... so that was fortunate timing for legislators.

Also in Ohio voucher requests are going up.

More schools in contaminated areas ... what is up with that? Cut it out!

Louisiana's Anti-Bullying Bill moves forward.

Private Kindergarten providers in New Hampshire a possibility.

Colorado is considering going P-16.

The University of Florida comes up with a Taser Policy after the "Don't Tase me Bro" incident. What an odd/revealing moment in American History that was.
 
Single gender charter schools coming to Delaware. NPR finds South Carolina has had them for a while (audio).

Last week my students asked me about teaching incentives ... well, here is a new housing one in South Carolina.

Doesn't seem to matter how many times we tell them, teachers cannot refuse to give the test.
 
Still waiting for the California homeschooling appeal decision. And they are still protesting out there ... this time on college costs. Getting feisty in California, everyone seems to protest everything these days.

Wisconsin's anti-discrimination laws apply to private schools.

Shakira becomes concerned about education (video). Good for her.

Here is one benefit of the Friday Snippets ... they just reminded me my wife's birthday is next week (no, not because of Shakira). Happy Birthday Jennifer.


And around the Ed. Law Blogosphere:

The buzz in the latter half of the week was around Jon Becker's post regarding educational malpractice on the part of schools for failing to integrate technology. I am hoping Jon reports back on his thoughts from this years Commonwealth Education Law Conference, which is going on right now.



Found a new educational law related blog this week: Title IX Blog,
which obviously focuses a lot of gender discrimination. The blog is
written by a couple of young law professors and a Ph.D. student. This
week the Title IX blog was happy to see Danica Patrick win her first Indy Car race ... as was I. Women can compete at the highest levels of sport if given the opportunity.

Jim Gerl finishes his procedural safeguards lesson (I am scheduled to teach special ed. law next summer ... by that time Jim may have written the whole class for me).



Mitchell Rubinstein passes a nice barrier this week and has an interesting 14th Amendment case out of Ohio.



Charles Fox calls on us to call on Congress to support a bill that would give parents the right to recover expert witness fees.



The School Lawyer investigation in NY just won't go away. Martha Neil reports one firm in particular seems to have been fingered.



Scott McLeod, who must not sleep, sends word of a concerning trend of teens sending nude photos by cell phone. He also had a nice week blogging about learning issues.



David Hoff finds that most experts think the time is not right for big changes to education policy
at the federal level, but some influential members (George Miller)
disagree. For my part, the time is certainly ripe for big changes to
federal policy ... there is going to be a really nice window after the
new president takes office, but frankly, I think there are a lack of
good ideas on the table right now. There really are no big changes that
are waiting in the wings, save national standards and my thinking is that both Obama and McCain will be reluctant to go there.



Mark Walsh, doing his regular outstanding work, has a challenge to NCLB HQT rules, banning cell phones is fine in NY, and Be Happy, Not Gay is fine in the 7th Circuit, so says Posner.



Pamela Parker at Texas Teacher Law has a little chiding for administrators that under plan for assemblies and graduations. Seating for 500, 3000 show up. Sounds like an Obama rally.



Michelle Laubin does some really cool work totaling the statistics
for Special Education Hearings in Connecticut. About 175 cases filed
for hearing. About 5 decided on the merits in favor of the parents
(lots settled in favor of parents). She also breaks it down by
individual hearing officer (one of the more important parts of special
education hearings is picking the right hearing officer). I would love
to do the same stats nationally.



Finally your Friday Fun ... This week, the Work of Johnathan Harris. Absolutely Breathtaking Stuff You Did Not Know Was Possible On the Net. Watch Jonathan explain his work in this video. 

In order of coolness:

The Universe - Creates a Starfield (yeah, really) of Related Items to Whatever you Search For. Explanation

We Feel Fine - Monitors the World's Feelings at any given moment. Explanation -- Related, Lovelines.

WordCount? Tracks the usage of words on the Internet. Explanation.
For fun, give yourself 30 seconds and try to get as far right on the
list as possible. I got "Wrestles" at 81,600. See if you can beat that.


The Whale Hunt - Thousands of pictures chronologically document an actual whale hunt in the Arctic. Explanation

Phylotaxis - The day in Pictures. Explanation

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets - 4/25/08 - Chasing Bananas

Specialty License Plates for Schools

So, I was checking out my new hometown newspaper today and I find that an anti-porn group is seeking to have its own license plates. The plate would carry the motto "In God We Trust" and the proceeds from the sale of the plate would go to combat pornography and other vices in the eyes of the Christian group that is promoting it. I am not going to buy it, so I don't really care if this plate is approved or not. It creates some interesting church and state issues, but I am not going to be offended if I see it on the road. In fact Indiana has had one for a while and it never bothered me while I have lived here.

But, if an anti-porn group can raise money through the sale of license plates ... why can't schools? This, to me, seems like a perfect fund raising opportunity. Lots of universities generate revenue through the sale of license plates (see right) and to me this should translate easily into the K-12 level. It might not generate a ton of revenue, but in a large district I could see it funding an extra teacher. People take a lot of pride in their schools. Particularly in their high schools. We should give them an opportunity to show their pride while helping to get the school a little extra funding.

OK, I hear ya. I know there are general K-12 plates already existing where you can specify a school to benefit ... but without the locally specific information (and team logo) people are unlikely to purchase these plates.

Alright, I also hear those of you complaining about the cost. But, the cost should not be that extensive. I just got a new set of Indiana plates in the mail about a month ago and they were basically ... plastic. We are talking very cheaply made. I think there was a little metal in the plate, but I am not sure. Anyway, the point is that it probably cost a dollar or so to make. It is not like we are making license plates the old fashion way with prisoners stamping them out of sheets of steel anymore. Machines are doing this now, meaning that it should be easier than ever to physically make, but also easier and cheaper to make a new design. I am sure it is just a matter of programming a computer. Which bring me to my second point, design costs ... which are basically nil. Just to show you I designed one (below) for the high school district I am probably moving into. Right now in most states there is a signature requirement and a initial startup cost. We would need a legislature to waive or greatly reduce those requirements, but this seems like exactly the kind of legislation that is designed to help schools that local politicians could get behind.

I like this idea ... and I like it a lot. It might not be economically feasible now, but it will be soon. Thoughts?

There Needs to be More Clinical Work Like This Going On

Great story in today's USA Today about students at Yale Law School taking a school adequacy lawsuit
to Connecticut's Supreme Court (also the Yale Daily News). The lead attorneys (law students) on
the case are Neil Weare and David Noah who did oral argument today.
Neil is a former NY City school teacher. You can find many documents related to the case here.

The
Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding approached the
law students a couple years ago and the students have been working on
the case since under clinical programs offered at Yale. The cost of school adequacy lawsuits are enormous and typically is a prohibitive barrier as groups of concerned parents are usually not able to cover the costs. But, much of the work in this case was done for free by the students under the direction of the clinic and law professors.

This
story almost brought a tear to my eye. This is exactly the kind of
multi-institutional, resource scare collaboration that can help our
kids. I am not weighing on the merits of the case, but the fact that
these students (who a year from now will probably be billing at
$300/hr) were willing to lend their expertise and resources to help other students negotiate the halls of power, while at the same
time learning and setting themselves up for sweet gigs, is, well, exemplary. These law students are heroes. Maybe they win their case, maybe they don't. And chances are the kids this case might benefit in the future will never know their names. But this is right. This is good. We need more of this.

Maybe There Are Worse Things You Can Do As A Teacher ...

But not many ...

Packing heat in the classroom.

Educational Entrapment?

Educational Entrapment? Why not?

Okay, I hear you lawyers out there crying foul and you may be right. Typically, entrapment is a legal defense whose application is limited only to instances where law enforcement officials trick a person into committing a criminal act who otherwise would not have committed it.

First, a little background on the case in question. A principal in New Hampshire confiscated a student's cell phone. As per her standard policy (???) she scrolled through the contact list and called other students. When this didn't yield any results she held onto the phone. A student from a different school text messaged the phone back, which the principal opened. The text message asked, "Yo, need a bag?" The principal messaged back saying she did in fact want a bag and set up a meeting outside her school. The police were called and were waiting for the student when he arrived. They searched him found some drugs and arrested him.  -- Here is a article on it and here is a CNN story (video).

So, where to start with this? 1) a policy of searching students' cel phones is probably illegal (see Klump). It is very possible this arrest was the result of an illegal search (opening the text message) so the student may well get off. 2) Why not call the police? Since when is the principal charged with community drug enforcement? I think this probably should have been handed off to the police the moment it was evident that drugs were going to be involved. You can read the reaction of other local school administrators here.

But, what I want to talk about is the entrapment issue. Now, rest assured this particular case will not win on the entrapment issue. There are a couple of reasons why. First, the school princpal in question worked at a private school, so not a "governmental official" - you will see why that is important in a minute. Second, although the principal's call to the drug dealing student probably triggered the "You need a bag" response, it was still the student that triggered the drug transaction. For entrapment to work, it is the government official that needs to trigger the transaction, not the criminal. So, it will probably not work in this case.

But, could it work in the right case? Perhaps - and let me explain. First, let's look at the language in the most recent Supreme Court case on the issue:

"In their zeal to enforce the law, however, Government
agents may not originate a criminal design, implant in an
innocent person's mind the disposition to commit a criminal
act, and then induce commission of the crime so that the
Government may prosecute." (Jacobson v. U.S.)

"Government agent" is the key language here. Even though later in the opinion the Justices refer to "law enforcement officials" when talking about entrapment, the broad language of "government agent" is probably the controlling language. Teachers, principals and other public school personnel are ... "government agents" under the standard definition. This more broad term of "government" or "governmental official" are used in other Supreme Court cases on entrapment as well (see Mathews & Sorrells)

Now, let's change the facts a little. Let's assume the principal was a public school principal and instead of responding to the text message, she originated the text message to the student asking, "Yo, can you hook me up with a bag?" All the other facts are the same. In this instance, I feel entrapment may be a valid defense even though the student was entrapped by a school official and not a law enforcement officer.

I would have to do more research to be sure, but entrapment by educators seems like a real possibility. This would make for a nice law journal if anyone is interested.

Scott McLeod came across this case this morning and sent it over, so a hat tip to him.

The Price of Budget Politics

There is always a price to be paid for playing politics with money ... and it is no different for education. A month ago I wrote that the massive amount of pink slips was going to cost California its young teachers, as a result of enormous proposed budget cuts from Gov. Schwarzenegger. Well, now word that other states have smelled blood in the water and are making efforts to woo California's young teachers away; I don't blame the other states for poaching in the least.

There is always a price to be paid for playing politics with money. Maybe the ultimate political gain is worth it, but the price being paid here is steep. They will never get many of these teachers back and the current cohort of untenured teachers will never be the same and it is the kids that will have to pay the price for this nonsense for years to come.