Law v. Lore in Teacher Tenure

Perry Zirkel filled in for Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post blog, The Answer Sheet, a couple days ago and wrote a provocative post about the law v. lore in teacher tenure. Perry (who I love is jumping on blogging - what a perfect medium for him) makes some great points that the law of teacher tenure is not as ironclad against dismissing teachers as most educators assume. I teach this to my future administrators all the time. Perry also makes a good point that litigation resulting from dismissal cases frequently goes the district's way. Certainly, as is almost always the case, the law is geared to support the school in these cases. So, as is always the case with Perry, he makes some great points and actually points to data to back it up. 

But, I have 2 small issues with how Perry frames this issue and a different recommendation as to how to achieve the desired result. 

First, I think Perry himself also inflates what tenure actually is legally.  As a legal matter, it is simply a contractual automatic renewal provision - and nothing more. For me, tenure is even less than what Perry described, as the due process that is associated with the tenure system is, really, in addition to and distinct from this simple contractual provision. Thus, even Perry in his post I think unnecessarily inflated what tenure really is as a legal matter. 

But, second, whether it is law or lore or something else ... the existing, practical, everyday policy of teacher tenure is construed as some type of block against dismissing teachers. Educators that have practiced, and certainly those in union districts, know the power and reverence the word tenure conjures in most educators. If the law is that substantially different from the everyday policy, then can't we say there is some type of problem with the law? I would argue that the law is not what is written but what is implemented and it is the lore of tenure that is currently the law in schools.

I, too, personally sort of like the black-letter law behind teacher tenure and I think if it were properly implemented as written and understood by lawyers we would have a very different dismissal system in schools. But this law has been around for a long time and if we don't have a proper understanding of it now, how can we assume that there will be a better application in the future?

Thus, for me, perhaps the best solution is just to simply delete the word "tenure" from the process and change nothing else - including the written law - thus supplanting the lore back with the actual law. If the law is simply a contractual automatic renewal provision, why can't we say a teacher has achieved automatic renewal instead of using the word tenure? All the mental baggage is then gone and dismissal is viewed, properly, as the distinct process that it truly, legally, is. That would allow us to move on to debating the real issue, perhaps, that is the due process provided to teachers by states and union contracts. Slightly adding or subtracting to those due process procedures is a much easier, and more politically palatable, option for reform than attacking the legal lore of teacher tenure. 

Too Predictable - NYC Teacher Politics Ruling

Ahh, sometimes the game is so predictable it is annoying. The NYC teacher's union political buttons case was one of those utterly predictable cases. Here was my prediction on where NYC teachers could engage in political activities.

So, I like the bulletin board case and don't like the campaign button case as much.

Friday, a federal judge in NY ruled: Yes to bulletin boards ... no to campaign buttons.

Shockingly predictable, no? Well, that's the point. This case was a political statement by the union, nothing more. It generated a lot of talk in the blogosphere and some news stories and showed the Obama Campaign how dedicated they were to his administration. As a lobbying campaign, it was fairly well done, actully. Don't believe me? Here is part of Randi Weingarten's statement in response to the case: 

Given that the overall decision preserves our members' legal rights, we will wait until after Election Day to decide whether to pursue the matter further.

Sort of disappointing. I am not a real fan of using the court system for political stunts and that seems to be what happened here. 

Here is more on the case. And Mark Walsh.

H/t Scott McLeod P/C: UCA NYC C6261a

Politics, Teachers and Schools

I've never witnessed a more political year than this one. I was back in Illinois this weekend visiting my old school where I taught, watching my little sister get crowned homecoming attendant, going to a wedding and making applebutter (and burning my hand pretty badly - it was a crazy weekend), but politics was topic #1 on everyone's mind. I have never seen my little small town in Southern Illinois so worked up for an election. The economy tanking and who to vote for ... there was no mention of the weather on this weekend. I even experienced a little of this phenomenon. 

Anyway, this crazy political year has spurned some interesting cases, the latest of which is a pretty big lawsuit now in New York. David Bloomfield sent me the big story in the New York Times about it (thanks David) (here is an AP story as well). The UFT is gunning against an (arguably) rarely enforced policy in the local regulations that teachers maintain "complete neutrality" in their duties. Here is the union's press release. Specifically, the UFT has singled out the school district stopping a teacher from posting an Obama banner on the union's bulletin board in a school and campaign buttons. 

Now, the school district seems in a pretty good position on this one as they are only enforcing a regulation that was already on the books. However, there are a couple of limitations. First, there have been a lot of cases regarding union bulletin boards and mailboxes and courts have frequently found in favor of teachers. Arguably, the teachers are not "on duty" when they are in the break room where the bulletin boards and mailboxes are located. So, in their case against posting the Obama poster, I think the teachers have a good case. But, second, on the campaign buttons what's going to happen here is a battle of seldom enforced regulations against traditions. My feeling is that regulations will usually win that fight, but if the union can show lots of specific instances where the regulation was not enforced in the recent past, they will have a shot, although a long one. So, I like the bulletin board case and don't like the campaign button case as much.

Also, I wonder how far the union will be willing to take this case. Now, three weeks before the election, it makes some nice headlines and makes for good public relations with the Obama campaign, a group the union will undoubtedly lobby heavily if they win the Whitehouse (did you notice that Randi Weingarten spoke at the Democratic National Convention?). But, after the election, this case looks a lot different and looks a whole lot more like something that could be renegotiated in the next collective bargaining agreement rather than fought out in court.This might be one of those cases we might not hear from again.

Friday Snippets - 10/3/08 - Officially a Resident of the Bluegrass

A quick edition this week. Spent today getting my Kentucky driver's license (which was surprisingly easy) and writing. Lots and lots of writing lately. I am realizing that more and more the professional career choice I made was ... author ... as I do more writing than just about anything else. 

First, an update on the ed. law academic job market. Well, its not looking good so far. I added another position to my list this week, but still it is a little bleak. The real missing players are the large state schools. Maybe they will be coming on the market soon. I will keep my eye on it, but so far the academic market just looks to be depressed generally this year. Speaking with my colleagues around the country, many of them reported to me that their universities are just not in a position to fill openings. Could have something to do with this. 

Someone needs to write a history of the Utah school vouchers fight. There is just too much juicy stuff not to. 

Making a "Blue" political statement in school? 

Been hearing way to much about sex ed and Alaska lately. 

Arizona considers affirmative action in law schools. 

Texas scientists say don't water down evolution in the state science curriculum. As I told my students last night ... the fight for Intelligent Design may be nearly over, but the fight against evolution generally is as strong as ever.

As Maryland shows, certification of all child care workers is on the horizon.

The nationwide crackdown on teacher sexual misconduct laws hits California this week.

Normally, I don't touch much higher ed., but the firings at the University of Iowa are really causing a stir.

Wiretapping buses? Maybe in Pennsylvania. Frankly, this Arkansas turning buses into virtual classrooms idea makes a LOT more sense. If we are going to be wiring up buses, let's do it with something that actually helps kids. 

    

Around the ed. law blogosphere:

Mark W. has the Supreme Court's education law cases roundup so far for this term. That kind of effort is very helpful to folks like me, so thanks Mark. Mitchell R. points us to where NSBA is tracking the possible ed. law supreme court cases here.   

Charles Fox has info on the ADA Amendments that became law this week. 

Howard F. has a school's "folding Jesus under" being approved.  

Erin B. has the Indiana transgender prom dress case surviving dismissal motions. This is an interesting little case and I am glad Erin is keeping an eye on it.    

Mark Ames at the Principal's Policy Blog has some good posts on recent federal activity worth reading.

Jim Gerl continues in his quest to get the candidates to answer special education questions. Me? I'm giving up. Its getting too close to the election for the candidates to be responding to inquiries like this now. My tact was to specifically target Obama and McCain education surrogates and try to get a response from them. But, even they are apparently instructed to stay away from special education law. This whole quest by Jim and I is sort of a sad story on the place of special education in this county. It takes one of the candidates to actually have a disabled child for anyone to actually pay attention to it and even then, they don't come up with policies or really even talking points. Very revealing (and disappointing).   

And finally, I recommend this post at my sister blog Dangerously Irrelevant on the legal accessibility of public information ... in an information age. 

For your Friday Fun: I registered to vote today, in some part aided by this video and the upcoming deadlines (not that I am easily convinced by celebrities).

Google Doc. Link: Friday Snippets - 10/3/08 

Friday Snippets: 09/19/08 - In the market for land?

A forgotten element in this financial crisis: teacher's pensions. 

Utah's turning its attention from vouchers to merit pay?

Big Ten network is now featuring professors on politics. (Suddenly I like conference networks a whole lot more ... bring on the SEC Network!)

Illegal immigrant in-state tuition lawsuit could spread beyond California ... Kansas, your next. 

Election issues for a Prop. 13 type proposal in Nevada. 

Onward in the S.D. funding suit (the testimony in this case is pretty extensive).

When charter school leadership goes bad ...

The Florida Supreme Court slaps some hands in Florida over the voucher ballot mess. 

Slashing special olympics? Gutsy.

Meeks, the leader of the Chicago boycott, gets his meeting with the Governor. 

Getting rid of abstinence education money ... in Kentucky? 

Wanna check inspection information about your kid's bus online? You can in NJ. 

Now that's ironic. 

Around the Ed. Law Blogosphere:

I'm envious of Jim Gerl. So, Jim ... why no robe? Might as well go full blast! Come to think of it, maybe hearing officers would get more respect if they wore a robe? Jim also has part II  in his series on special ed. eligibility. 

Mark W. has a kid being disciplined for a fake MySpace page. Rightfully so, I think. Anyway, a good off-campus case. Also, OCR weighs in  on race-neutral admission policies. 

Howard F. has a N.C. District looking to add creationism to the curriculum. So, are we done with Intelligent Design? 

Should students spy on their teachers with camera's ... Wrightslaw takes it on. 

Patrick Fanelli has a good overview  of the Penn. homeschooling case. 

Michelle Laubin has ED giving some advice on FERPA. 

Campaign K-12 finds that Palin thinks she is a product of Title IX. 

For your Friday Fun: 

With the market crashing, maybe it is a good time to buy land? It's cheap right now. Hey, I can dream, right? Me and Delmar:  

I'm gonna visit those foreclosing son-of-a-guns at the Indianola Savings & Loan, slap that money on the barrelhead and buy back the family farm. You ain't no kind of man if you ain't got land.

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets: 09/19/08 - In the market for land?

Friday Snippets: 9/12/08 - The Palin Chronicles

Here is a story you didn't see on the front page, but it should have been.

It is hard not to feel bad for California's schools. Legislators won't reach a budget, plus another education secretary resigns this week. There seems to be a real lack of leadership at the state level ... ahem, governator?

The Paducah shooter is asking for a new sentence.

Testimony in the S.D. School Finance suit continues. Montana's school funding suit goes back to court.

In Arkansas, a law prohibiting sex between teachers and students is upheld, even if the student is over 18.

The Chicago $$ reward system.

The judge in the NJ school administrator pay and pension lawsuit is hoping for a settlement.

No advertising on public school buses in S.C. - hadn't heard of that before.

Rumblings under the surface in the Utah voucher epic.

Ken Starr just can't seem to stay away from education. (Couldn't he prosecute a President or something ... maybe one that lied to the American public?)

Student loan companies get an ethics code. 

A Pennsylvania property tax constitutional challenge case is heard.

This is interesting ... if I ever find myself on death row ... no way am I going to burn.

A group in Indiana suggests free community college. 

And, a group of Palin inspired stories:

    Paying for praying for pipelines in Alaska.

    Sex Ed. ... (1) ... (2) ...

    If you want to talk more about Palin or any education aspects of the election, feel free to do so in the forum.

Around the Blogosphere:

Mark Walsh has this interesting panel discussion. I am going to try to make it, but I have a different meeting scheduled against it at the moment.

Mark also has another black armbands case.

Erin B. has an update on the Title IX case before the Supreme Court this term. This is going to be a very important case, so keep an eye on this one and I will have more on it as it gets closer.

Howard F. has another Good News Club case, this one out of Minnesota.

Jim Gerl is getting impatient with our Candidate Request and starting to make quips ... "Is pig lipstick more important than special education"

Dan Meyer is upset with a recent statement by the unions ... and sets the blogosphere abuzz.


For your Friday Fun:

BoardBuzz pointed us to this latest astounding presentation by Michael Wesch. The Superstar Anthropology Professor from K-State on the Anthropology of YouTube.


Google Document Link:Friday Snippets: 9/12/08    

Friday Snippets: 8/22/08 - Waiting on the Choice of the Next President

The most important story today is probably the VP selection of Barack Obama, expected later this afternoon (not like you didn't know). Whomever Barack chooses is likely to at least have a decent chance at becoming President in 8 years. This election reminds me so much of the 1980 election, and in that election the party that won (Reagan) stayed in power for 12 years and the Vice President (George H. W. Bush) became President. From the beginning (waaayyy at the beginning when people didn't know their names) I thought the best possible ticket for the Democrats this year was Obama/Warner in one form or the other, so I am still holding out hope for a surprise Mark Warner selection at the last minute as he seems clearly the second brightest star in the Democratic Party. Anyway, the point is that it is an important day in American politics today when we might find out who will be the next, next president.

Hawaii, still in the reform mood, tweaks their school calander to provide more summer.

Another school funding lawsuit in Illinois. Third times' a charm?

No using state dollars to sue ... the state in South Dakota.

Conservates preparing for the end of NCLB?

Why we need technology instruction for teenagers. They already know how to use the tools, but they don't know what is considered misuse.

A good article on Texas school finance.

I have been talking about Louisiana's reform tendencies all year with vouchers and charters and whatnot ... now it hits closer to home. Principal Prep. and the Wallace Foundation, entities I know a lot about.

Major mergers in Maine.

Lot of talk this week about lowering the drinking age. We'll see how far that goes.

School business officials have joined the New Jersey Superintendent pay limit lawsuit.

Beginning this year, twins can stay together in Penn. schools.


Around the Ed. Law Blogosphere ...

I redesigned my Netvibes page to match the new look, but it is still as effective as ever at delivering all the best education law blog posts in one spot.

Mark Walsh has Riehm v. Engelking, an 8th Circuit case on a student creative writing story not protected by the First Amendment. Mark also has Barr v. Lefon, where a ban on the Confederate Flag in a school with racial tensions was upheld. You can find both of these cases in the Cases section of this website.

Wrightslaw has Milwaukee Public Schools having to pay $450,000 in legal fees for a challenge to their special education system.

Mitchell R. has a great week. First, a whole new use for MySpace. Next, commentary well worth reading on Corporal Punishment. Also, a case on special education discipline.

Jim Gerl has a good post on on the IDEA language (or lack thereof) regarding mainstreaming. And, Jim is waiting impatiently for the response from the candidates. My feeling is that they would not respond without a little pressure. Perhaps, Jim, you should talk to Michele McNeil at Campaign K-12 and get her to do a story on the candidates ignoring you. 

Jim Walsh has a court in Texas throwing out a Assistant Principal's defamation case against students who created a fake and sexually graphic MySpace page in her name.

Howard Friedman has a partial dismissal of a pledge case and dismissal of a free exercise claim against Pennsylvania's homeschooling policies.


And for your Friday Fun:

Biden is trading the highest right now on Intrade. Still time to get in on the Republican Vice Presidential betting.

Google Document Link: Waiting on the Choice of the Next President

Friday Snippets - 7/18/08 - Live from Lexington

First Snippets Live from Lexington:


The Arizona Attorney General is now becoming involved in the Voucher funding issues.



Anti-bullying law discussions continue in North Carolina (more).



Discussions continue on Florida's proposed plan to eliminate property taxes for schools.



Who knows if Louisiana's evolution law is constitutional.



More autism talk. 



A group is seeking to rewrite the S.C. Constitution education clause to mandate that schools provide a high quality education.



Another major teacher strike in the UK - this time teaching assistants and support staff.





Couple ed. leadership stories ...

Education leaders put the onus for school improvement on principals in Arkansas.

New Jersey is reviewing some school administrator's administrative licenses suspecting they came from diploma mills.





Around the ed. law blogosphere:



Jen Weissman has Evan Bayh on Education.



Karl Romberger is in favor of a free agent market for teachers.



Last week, Wrightslaw gave the special education law blog five stars, and it has really seemed to stimulate Charlie Fox who this week has Epilepsy resources, the delicate balance of discipline, and teacher speech issue for speaking out on IDEA issues in her school.  



Jim Gerl has the difference between 2 and 1 tier due process systems.



Mitchell R. has some advice for legal bloggers and possibly getting picked up by Lexis and Westlaw.



Title IX blog has the Office of Civil Rights not buying an attempt to exempt some high schools from Title IX. 





And for your Friday Fun:

Think you know movie titles? Give this game a spin. Enter
a letter to guess the title (I failed my first 5 tries but then got
better quickly).

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets - 7/18/08

Friday Snippets: 6/20/08 - Summer Slowdown Begins

Arizona's Attorney General appeals the earlier unconstitutional vouchers ruling there.



Virginia is reviewing the legality of their school fees. (These are always questionable under state constitutions).\



Quite a little fight shaping up in Florida this fall over the vouchers amendments.



But, Florida is a laboratory for conservative oriented school policies (vouchers, charters, testing). This is why I like federalism - we get to try these things out and see before they go national.



The University of Iowa begins recovering ... thankfully.



2/3 of schools in South Dakota are supporting the school funding lawsuit. (I like when schools take collective action like this).



We are all paying for Nevada's schools.



An agreement in NY to kick out teachers on the sex-offender registry. (Love those NY Post Headlines).



Rumblings that school choice might be back on the agenda in Arkansas.



Here is an idea that is gaining steam  ... 4 day work week (+ 4 day school week). I not sure it will go anywhere, but hearing a lot about it lately.



"School anti-bulling emphasis overlooks gays" - in Alabama.



Around the Ed. Law Blogosphere:



Mark Walsh has 2 Supreme Court employment based cases coming down that tangentially affect education. Mark also has
a possible corporal punishment case getting Cert. from the Supremes. I
sort of hope that happens. I think it is time to be done with corporal
punishment. Also, Highly Qualified Teacher Definition Upheld.



Mitchell Rubinstein has more on the Supreme Court labor decisions.



Mitchell also has a link to an interesting text-message privacy case out of the 9th Circuit that I am going to have to read more about.



Michele McNeil has Ed. in 08 gaining momentum with some new members. Roy Romer on the new additions. I am sort of fascinated watching Ed. in 08 picking up steam and I think it is due in no small part to their active courting of the blogosphere.



Obama sort of attacks McCain on education. Not enough to actually inspire an education back and forth, however.



Board Buzz has an overview of the potential legal costs of parent chaperones.



School and Education Law Blog has a guestblogger, Heather Johnson, who writes why corporal punishment is a bad idea.



Charles Fox has a shockingly scary story on school's use of calling child and protective services. Wow. Just wow.



Pete Wright has information on homebound services.



And, Jen Weissman has Hillary Clinton's education take. 



And for your Friday Fun: I am already missing my undergrads ... so
... I thought I would post what has become the most popular of their
You Tube projects. This video has been viewed 500 times.

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets: 6/20/08 - Summer Slowdown Begins

Friday Snippets: 6/6/08 - I'm an Anti-Dentite

The LA Teacher's walkout plan referenced a couple posts back, will be going forward as a judge denied an injunction trying to stop it.

The Scopes Monkey Trial will not be reenacted in full
this year in the Dayton, TN courtroom where the first drama played out.
(If anyone around Dayton wants to get that on tape and send it to me, I
would love to feature it in a post).

Sneaking in vouchers in Florida. Tisk, tisk. Also, more evidence that vouchers are the hot policy position for young conservative politicians looking to get elected.

NY Times article on Evolution Opponents new strategy.
Don't you just love how this debate "evolves" - and every single story
or article has to use that metaphor in the first paragraph. Must be
some policy on that I am not aware of. (Also: Rubinstein)

We are now in "sweeping under the rug" mode in the NY Attorney Scandal.

Pennsylvania has a new cyber charter school bill.

Here is a school transfer bill for military families that makes a lot of sense to me.

As a person that hates the dentist, mandatory dental exams for children to enter schools is something that just doesn't sit right for me. (ZzzzzZZZZzzzz ZZZzzz ZZZZZZzzz ... god I have an irrational fear of dentists - see below).


And around the Ed. Law Blogosphere
(any of my new ed. tech. readers are encouraged to visit other members
of our little school law social network that I am working to build):

My new Ed. Tech friends will be interested in Mike Tully's comments on this student blogging speech rights case.

Mark Walsh at the School Law Blog has a rare school elections oriented post (don't see a lot of those, in fact in my three years of blogging, that might be the first).

Jen Weissman this week has her take on Obama's Education policies and schools going green (article link ).

Title IX blog has a $19,000 award against the Massachusetts Athletic Association for not letting a female golfer participate in the boys state final.

Couple weeks ago a teacher let her class "vote" an autistic student out of class. It has been making big waves and Jim Gerl weighs in.

Mitchell Rubinstein has a great resource this week: A 50 State compendium of explanations on Open Meetings Laws.



Pamela Parker has a funny (and concerning) school board member story. Interesting group those school board members.



And Jim Walsh thinks the special ed. opt out in the new DOE proposed regulations is a bad idea.



BoardBuzz has the Choice/SES switch becoming official. I recommended as much a year ago ... what took so long?


And your Friday Fun: I am in a Seinfeld Mood and 2 seem relevant today.



First, given my opposition to dentists ... The Anti-Dentite Episode.






And second, I think I was fired from the Ed. Tech. Blogging Community Yesterday ... if I ever even worked there:

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets: 6/6/08 - I'm an Anti-Dentite

Not on the Same Page Here

Much has been made this year of the California Budget Cuts. I have written about it here and in several editions of the Friday Snippets and its been a regular feature in local California newspapers. I think there is real outrage on the part of people with an interest in education ... and rightfully so.

But, those outraged people are not really all that much on the same page when it comes to expressing their dislike of this shortchanging of schools. For instance, LA Unified Teachers want to protest an hour next week over the budget cuts to get some public attention for their position. But, LA Unified, a school district who is just as outraged over the budget cuts, is now seeking an injunction to stop the protest.

And, there is the problem. We are not on the same page when it comes to presenting a public face of education to the general public. This teacher protest could have been a good way (I am not commenting on the merits of it) to gain public attention, but now the infighting is overshadowing the message which everyone agrees on. On top of that you have teachers protesting independently across the state, uncoordinated parental protests, students walking out of class (and being discouraged by the DOE), k-12 students & parents protesting, higher ed. students protesting on campuses, and on and on.

Lots of protesting, but not a lot of pressure on politicians because these stories are all local stories. Certainly, the local protests help make education's case, but what would happen if education were ever to present a united front to the public?

Friday Snippets - 5/30/08 - Gas Prices - Ugh!

Well, surprise, surprise, California schools are not going to get rid of most of their teachers
that they gave pink slips to. I just wonder how many good teachers they
lost as a result of this fiasco. Probably somebody will do a study on
it someday. By the way, if you remember, Texas was at the front of the
line in trying to steal teachers away from Calif. schools, now, they
are moving on to stealing teachers from Florida. Lesson? Need a teaching job? Try Texas!



Legislators Listen Up! Either support more education funding or lose your job!



Denver teachers are getting a bit restless over contract negotiations.



Hey, Clinton Campaign, pay your bills! I don't want to have to pay higher fees to make up for your debt (and refusal to acknowledge reality).



I am not the only one to notice the hot legislation right now are laws against teacher sex abuse, the AP noticed as well too.



The stupid, annoying, frustrating, ridiculously high gas prices are affecting schools as well. More. BoardBuzz too. (No real surprise there, I am just ultra ticked about the insane prices and needed to vent).



The Duke Lacross players are looking for a little revenge (who can blame them).



Early feedback on the Las Vegas open enrollment choice plan.



South Dakota's governor, apparently, is really fond of laptops in the classroom.



And around the blogosphere:



Jim Gerl has Hearing Officer Openings in DC ... and I agree with Jim's assessment of the job. Can to a lot of good in that job, but respect ... not so much.



Mitchell Rubinstein has the douchebags case coming down in the Second Circuit. 
Oh yeah, Mitchell, there is going to be lots of commentary on this one.
Starting now: Mitchell's commentary is right on. This case is a stretch
to say the best. I agree with the rules the court lays out, I am just
not sure this is the kind of situation where the school needs to step
in and regulate.



Also, the ABA Journal is going to run a full story on the ethics problems of the New York School Attorney Scandal.



Also, LII is RSSing new U.S. Code updates! Nice work Tom Hutton and everyone else at LII. I really like this idea.



Mark Walsh has the Justice Department discouraging the Supreme Court from reviewing a racial disparate impact case stemming from the teaching exam.



Connecticut Jen (love to have a last name sometime Jen) blogs on John McCain and education.



Title IX Blog has links to salary disparities in college coaching between the sexes. Some pretty striking differences there.



Charles Fox has a teacher allowing a class to vote a special education student out of it.



Education returns to the campaign, at least for Obama. Alexander Russo does a good job tracking down reactions. More.





Friday Fun:



I Love the World. I love this video ... and Discovery Channel. Even when watching TV, I love learning new things.




Google Document Link: Friday Snippets 5/30/08

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

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: 4/18/08 - There is Just Something about Coaches and Religion

Your Friday Snippets for Another Week.

Here we go again with Ken Starr. This time he has agreed to take the long running (as in going on 2 decades)
Flores v. Arizona case to the Supreme Court. The case, for those not
familiar, concerns the State of Arizona's implementation of their
English Language Learner program. The plaintiffs contend that Arizona
does ot provide enough funding to properly implement the ELL program so
that minority language students have an equal shot, as defined under
the Equal EducationalOpportunity Act of 1974. Here is a more complete summary of the case. Here is the latest opinion, the denial of an en banc hearing. Here is the earlier opinion of the 9th Circuit ruling against the State of Arizona. Also, funding for ELL was approved this week, but more court documents have been filed
to compel compliance with the ruling. -- With Ken Starr behind it,
perhaps we will see this case be granted cert. also by the Supreme
Court. Stay tuned on this one.



Some in Arizona (apparently it is Arizona's week this week) also don't want any anti-Democratic or non-Western teaching in its schools.



Illinois' State Senate says no trans-fats in school lunches.



At least schools are more important that ballparks (even if that ballpark is Wrigley Field).



Indiana's corporal punishment law was helpful to a teacher who gripped (slapped) a girl's face.



Louisiana is trying to get around evolution (Missouri too) (who isn't these days?) (btw, BoardBuzz has the complete works of Darwin ).



South Dakota's school funding lawsuit will start in September.



Iowa's sales tax plan for schools is losing momentum.



Florida, who is really struggling financially, looks to have a 2 year waiting period before the class size reductions take place.



The Ohio bill that is attempting to permit college students to carry guns is stalling (thankfully - looks like all of these bills across the country are failing).



Kansas has a new cyber-bullying law.



Bullying in an anti-bullying meeting in Missouri?



Some pretty striking expulsion numbers in Las Vegas.



Teachers are striking at some Catholic Schools in NY.




And around the blogosphere:

Probably the big story this week was the ruling out of the 3rd Circuit in Borden v. Sch. Dist. of the Township of East Brunswick
which found that a football coach cannot join his team in prayer for
meals or during pregame prayer. The court found participating in these
prayer activities would be endorsing religion. Mark Walsh at Education Week has more as does Molly McDonough at the ABA Journal.
 
But, that was not out only coach to make news this week. The Kentucky School News and Commentary blog comments on a story
from around Columbus, OH where a teacher/coach refuses to remove a copy
of the Bible from his classroom. The event has triggered local interest
and a 100 person rally for the teacher was held yesterday. The teacher is claiming freedom of speech protection in displaying the Bible (good luck with that) - Richard Day says
"His persistent effort over time to impose his strongly held views
promoting a specific religion smells like ...establishment."

Martha Neil, who has been doing an excellent job following the NY School Attorney's scandal, posts this week
that the probe has moved beyond just school attorneys to all
professional involved in government work. This is bad news for NY
accountants, architects and others, but sort of good news for school
lawyers as they will not be the only ones catching heat and it may help
school lawyers save a little face after this embarrassment.

But, the school attorney scandal was not the only way schools can be taken advantage of, as Mark Walsh finds in an odd mail fraud case.

Jim Gerl has a good week continuing his series on Procedural Safeguards in Special Education with IEE's the topic this week, but also gives us a little personal info about the conferences he attends and the Big Wigs he gets to hangs around with. In all seriousness, nice work Jim in promoting the rural special education agenda.



Mike Tully At The Schoolhouse Gate has word of another bullying lawsuit.



Mitchell Rubinstein has the declining relevance of law reviews ... and law reviews are also moving online, somewhat (finally).
    
Pamela Parker at Texas Teacher Law has an interesting post on how hard to fight when the system turns against you.



Board Buzz has bullying in the lunchrooms, and not how you would expect.



Volume 7 of the Integration Report is up.



Politico has McCain's Arizona Education roots ... and why they are dangerous.

Fordham is now blogging. They also are making videos
(calling their weekly spot the Fordham Factor), which are generally
good and informative, but could use a much better intro. Seriously,
fellas, that intro needs some major, major, professional help. But, I
really appreciate the creativity.

And you may have noticed the upgrades to the blog this week. This blog is now using SnapShots so that readers can preview pages (if you don't like it you can tell Snapshots to cut it out). Also, on the sidebar I have my favorite videos. I just have a few in there now, but I will continue updating that with cool new videos. Finally, I have also added my bookshelf
to the sidebar you can keep track of what I am reading/recommending
(try the physics books, if you get it on tape, it is a great way to
travel across the country).



Finally, a Special Request this week concerning Gifted Education. Marty Nemko,
a contributing editor at U.S. News among other things, called me up
this week and wanted a little information on education law and
plaintiff's lawyers for educational litigants. He is particularly
interested in the way gifted students are treated (or mis-treated in
his opinion) in the United States. Here is a blog post he wrote on his thoughts on gifted education.
I gave him a couple names but really did not have exactly what he was
looking for so I thought I would put it out to all of you. If you have
any ideas for a potential law firm that would be interested in this or
have any other thoughts on gifted education, feel free to leave a comment at his blog or get in touch with him.  This might be a good way for a young, up and coming student's rights firm to make a name for itself.





And for your Friday Fun: A Little Bathroom Humor
(for those of you that know me really, really well, you know I have an extreme aversion to public restrooms). Sorry if it is a little crude ... but it
is funny as heck. Men's Room (below) and Ladies Room

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets: 4/18/08 - There is Just Something about Coaches and Religion

Students Attacking Teachers - Teachers Running to the Media

Here is an odd story out of Baltimore. A teacher was attacked by a student in the classroom. It was a fairly brutal fight and students stood around and did nothing to intervene. One student, though, did pull out the old cellphone camera and recorded it on video, which later made its way to Youtube. After the fight, the teacher went to the principal who may or may not have blamed the teacher for the fight. Also, apparently, there was some delay in disciplining the student responsible. The teacher has since left the classroom and has said she is scared to return.

Anyway, once the video is found, the teacher's union recommended that this teacher go public with the story and make the media rounds, which she did extensively (see below). She is apparently on a crusade to make schools safer for teachers from students. And because of the media firestorm, there are also calls to get rid of the principal and more.

Just a very odd story. Perhaps not so odd that it happened, but that the union turned this into a publicity stunt. I am not really sure what the purpose of such a media onslaught is in terms of changes to actual working conditions. I guess you can elicit some value in terms of embarrassing the district publicly, but I am not sure how embarrassing the administration and calling for the principal to be fired is going to improve the working conditions in Baltimore's schools. If anything this would seem to damage the working relationship between the teachers, the union and the administration. Perhaps other have thoughts.

Here is the MSNBC Interview that also gives an interview.

Here is Nancy Grace's 4 part story with doctors, 3 lawyers, union reps ... wow: Part I, Part II, Part III (below), Part IV (below). "We want justice, this is wrong."

Here is a CNN Interview as well.

Odd Story. Probably haven't heard the last of this yet either.

Friday Snippets: 4/11/08 - Cuomo's School Lawyer Net Starting to Catch Fish

Here are the snippets for another week:

At AERA, Kevin Brady, said that his review of the education psychology literature found the highest rates of bullying in middle school girls. I believe it. 2 stories this week: 14 year old is beaten up by 2 older girls & Teenage girls gang up on another student.


The NY School Attorney Scandal has cast a pretty wide net ... and they are getting quite a few fish. Perhaps 90 lawyers in 180 districts (so far) were improperly receiving state pension benefits and other compensation.



The homeschooling protests have moved outside California. "Hundreds" of homeschoolers protested a registration bill outside the Michigan State Capital.


The end has come for decentralized testing in Nebraska. Sad - I always sort of liked Nebraska's policy on this.



A new adequacy lawsuit starts in Iowa.

This Idaho politician being fined for speeding in a school zone is so ironic its funny.

Illinois Democrat's plan to double income taxes on those making over 250,000 failed. But, in Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger may be leaning toward a tax increase.



The Evolution Debate continues in Florida.



Athletic Equity for Disabled Students passes in Maryland.



Guns and Kids don't mix, period, in one N.C. school -- so no more shooting team. (Gotta say that is probably a good idea).



Remember that big anti-teacher union billboard in NYC, yeah, that doesn't seem to be working.



If you can pay for it, this is a nice Green idea in Ohio.


Forced parental volunteering in schools?


Also, Lee Hochberg for PBS had a nice segment on the deadend that students of immigrants face at the end of high school.   



And, The Civil Rights Project has a new book out.




Around the Ed. Law Blogosphere:

Jim Gerl offers a compelling point about the connection between special education students and high divorce rates among parents. A sad reality.

Mark Walsh has a good blogging week. He has J. Scalia telling high school students they need to be Constitutional Law scholars. While J. O'Connor stuck to the script in addressing the NSBA, which disappointed both Mark and I. Also a Hartford, CT deseg case settlement, but a possible AA challenge in Texas and Oklahoma. Finally, Boyd County, KY winning a challenge to its anti-harassment (for sexual orientation) policy (that poor district has been through a lot).

Mitchell Rubinstein links to this NY Times article that finds many Muslim students being homeschooled. This follows up on a post I made earlier this week about a Muslim oriented Charter School in Minnesota being tarred and feathered. Little update on that post by the way, the school was also chided for not flying an American flag ... also on the front page of Drudge.    



And for your Friday Fun:

This week we are going to go with a music recommendation to spice things up a bit. You HAVE to check out Old Crow Medicine Show. They are sort of an old timey,
progressive bluegrass, rock oriented, folk band - which probably
doesn't do them justice. They are sort of unique but part of a growing
genre of music that sort of combines lots of styles, but still manages
to sound uniquely American. They are just super talented and sort of do
their own thing. Got to love that. This is their song called I Hear Them All:



More Music (this is all uploaded videos, so forgive the inferior audio quality)

Wagon Wheel (probably their most popular song)
Down Home Girl
Minglewood Blues Live (Austin City Limits)
Gospel Plow (from their Woodsongs music hour at the Kentucky Theater in Lexington ... I can't wait to get there).

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets 4/11/08

Friday Snippets: 4/4/08 - It's Always Something with Illinois

Here is another week's worth:

Arizona hits a snag on opting out of NCLB, but their efforts are not over yet.

The California homeschooling decision is still generating backlash and New Hampshire homeschoolers are also upset over a bill that require them to submit curriculum plans before they withdraw their children.

Nebraska governor signs changes to school funding formula into law, which prompts some school districts to drop their funding lawsuit against the state. Also, Nebraska school bus seatbelt bill failed.

Illinois is a mess again (I could do snippets just on Illinois stories each week). Here is this weeks top 10. 1) Gov. did end run through school to give money to a church. 2) Failed. 3) And doesn't want to talk about it.  4) Tony Resko (of Obama fame) implicates the Gov. in a Teacher's Pension System fraud. Also, 5) the legislature looks to remove some of Gov. power over education 6) and also sides with media against the high school athletic association over pictures of athletes. 7) the mayor of Chicago threatens the legislature with property tax hikes. as 8) the state board of education cuts another 25 million from the budget. 9) the Juvenile justice system can't find enough teachers.
10) Meanwhile the Washington Post reports that violence is out of
control in Chicago, with 20 students in CPS already dead this year as a
result of youth violence. 7 in March alone.

Louisiana is looking to do more and deeper background checks on teachers. (Minnesota wants to background check all coaches). Louisiana Superintendents are also upset about Legislators trying to force discipline rules on them.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has been found discriminatory against girls.

Negotiations continue over Kentucky's anti-bullying bill.

There might be support for Vouchers in Maryland.


And in the Ed. Law Blogosphere this Week:

Scott McLeod (of Dangerously Irrelevant fame) passes along word of a ruling in Wisconsin which released the email files
of 5 teachers (including personal e-mails - student identifying
information removed) into the public domain. (Use proprietary email
systems for personal stuff folks, I like g-mail). 
Scott also passes along word of a new education news site that seems to
focus on bad behavior in schools, whether from teachers or students. Detentionslip.org. 

Jim Gerl continues his series on IDEA Procedural Safeguards.

Mark Walsh has the the Supremes declining cert.
to a case where a student text messaged a friend with an icon shooting
bullets at a head and the words "Kill Mr. VanderMolen," his teacher. But he also has a lot on the Supreme's accepting cert. in a teacher's union dues collection case.

Mitchell Rubenstein has more Garcetti fallout. This time a teacher complained that unqualified people were hired for positions within a school. Ruling = Not protected.

The latest Integration Report is out and has more about SES based diversity plans.

Jon Becker finds a school district blocking Google Docs (wow).

Jim Ryan, the law and education guy at the University of Virginia Law School, posts a Fixing NCLB article at Slate. And the Ed. Blogosphere busts his chops: Quick and the Ed; D-Ed Reckoning; Tim Stahmer
(For my part, I disagree with his first sentence. Education can't be
"fixed" with 1 law or tinkering with NCLB. That is the kind of surface
level thinking that produces laws like NCLB in the first place. But,
Jim is doing good work in education law otherwise, so I am going to give him a pass and chalk it up to Slate's request for a surface level article).

Kevin Carey (Quick and the Ed) also makes a good case that Law Schools should not complain about the U.S. News Rankings (see the ABA Journal article).
Law schools do, after all, rank their students (what horrid memories,
but I will never forget my law school ranking ... I was ranked ____ -
are you crazy, I am not sharing).

Michele McNeil finds the AFT running radio ads for Sen. Clinton that don't even mention education. This is the kind of spending that makes unions a hard sell to new teachers. Michele also has a great post on Sen. McCain's education.


And for your Friday Fun: Improv Everywhere - Mobile Desktop

Also watch (1) Frozen Grand Central and (2) Food Court Musical (probably the funniest)

Google Document Link: Friday Snippets 4/4/08

Rolling out the Welcome Mat

The buzz at AERA was over this large, large (seven-story) billboard a block north of Times Square. (The owner's blog post and more pictures here.)

If you can't read it, here is the description:

"Vote for the
Worst
unionized
Teachers
(who can't be fired).
[the apple has a bite out of it and a worm coming out of the middle]
Vote at:
 Teachersunionexposed.com"

Here is a link to the AP story and the union response.

Now, I am not a particularly big fan of continuing to promote this kind of expenditure, especially when you don't know who is REALLY behind the millions that paid for all this, but I do think it is signifigant for a couple of reasons. First, the cost of it. Significant dollars are beginning to amass against teacher's unions, which this billboard in Times Square proves (and if not, check out their full page ads in the NY Times, their commercials, and their interview on Fox News - yes, I see you smiling - had to be Fox didn't it). Second, though, it was clearly posted because AERA was in town. Nothing was mentioned of the sort in the blog post, but if I were going to pick a spot that guaranteed everyone that attended AERA would see it, it would have been that spot because it sat in the middle of all the AERA hotels. So, clearly, someone was trying to make a statement to educational scholars as well as making a statement about how much they can spend. That is both flattering (I don't know the last time I was directly lobbied), but also concerning. Certainly, there is no rule that says you can't lobby the Ivory Tower, but such a direct and forceful effort as this shows a new kind of determination to influence scholars. The lobbyist group behind this certainly knew what it was doing and maximized the effect of this expenditure. The anti-teacher's union effort is clearly becoming more sophisticated if they can hire experienced Washington lobbyists to pull of this kind of stunt.

--
Special thanks to two lovely, super-talented researchers that I am looking forward to working with on projects in the future. Karen Jackson for pointing it out to us and Maggie Barber for taking the photo (I am sort of jealous of her i-Phone). We'll see what our little investigative team can come up with next year in San Diego.

Interesting Bill on Teacher Decertification in Washington State

There is a bill in the Washington State Legislature that would make it easier for schools to decertify teachers for various crimes, mostly related to child abuse. I read the bill and it is pretty standard stuff. So standard, in fact, that the Washington NEA associate is backing the bill. So, why did I put it on the Edjurist ... well, I just found this an odd statement in the Seattle Times Article:

Jarvis [Superintendent of Tacoma Schools] would like to see school districts required to report
problems with teachers, even if the problem is a "boundary invasion"
that likely would not get the teacher in legal trouble. He also wants
the state to allow school superintendents to file professional-practice
complaints against employees in other districts.

The bill would address these issues as well as broaden the list of
crimes for which a conviction can result in automatic firing and loss
of credentials.

So I investigated a little. Here is the section of the Bill that, I guess, would give them authority to report all such "boundary invasions" (only underlined part is new - I added the bold).

  9  Sec. 5. RCW 28A.410.090 and 2005 c 461 s 2 are each amended to
10  read as follows:
11  (1)(a) Any certificate or permit authorized under the provisions of
12  this chapter, chapter 28A.405 RCW, or rules promulgated thereunder may
13  be revoked or suspended by the authority authorized to grant the same
14  based upon a criminal records report authorized by law, or upon the
15  complaint of any school district superintendent, educational service
16  district superintendent, or private school administrator for
17  immorality, violation of written contract, unprofessional conduct,
18  intemperance, or crime against the law of the state. School district
19  superintendents, educational service district superintendents, or
20  private school administrators may file a complaint concerning any
21  certificated employee of a school district, educational service
22  district, or private school and this filing authority is not limited to
23  employees of the complaining superintendent or administrator.

Boundary invasions, of course, means something different to me than "immorality, unprofessional conduct, or intemperance." I certainly understand the idea the superintendent is referring to and I am not against calling teachers out when they cross the line, but it seems to me that boundary invasions can be interpreted pretty broadly (so broadly that if this actually was part of the bill I really would be shocked to see the WEA back it). In fact, the superintendent in his quote even specifically says he interprets this bill as giving him the authority to report incidents that would not have legal implications (something beyond immorality, unprofessional conduct, or intemperance, I assume). In fact, it appears to me that superintendents have no additional authority to report teacher boundary invasions under this new bill - which is pretty much directly contrary to what the article says. Luckily, the term "boundary invasions" was not included in the law and will not be considered by judges in hearings after teachers are fired (although that is not to say ill-informed superintendents might not mess with a teacher's career before it gets to court), but this is a good lesson on 1) how school leaders interpret legislation and 2) how the media chooses to report such interpretations as fact, even when such a simple task as reading the bill would have told them otherwise.