The Absence of Free Educational Law Resources Online

Spinning around the Educational Law Association e-mail listserv the past couple of days was a request by an educational professor for free resources she could use in an in-service professional development situation for teachers. She got several good responses, including this Alabama oriented educational law text, educational law blogs (thanks to Scott McLeod and CASTLE), the (members-only???) Educational Law Association Forum, links to non-educationally based legal resources, and a few other responses referring to textbooks (of the pay, non-online variety).

First, there are several helpful non-educationally oriented sites out there, such as Findlaw, the Legal Information Institute, Oyez, and on and on. And some education policy organizations have done their best, such as the Education Commission of the States Issues Database and the National School Board's Association School Law Pages. The problem is, there really are no websites dedicated solely to educational law resources. The best attempt ever made was done by Sarah Redfield, and her Edlaw Online Library. While I think it was an admirable and effective effort, it is difficult for one person to do it all. At this library, Sarah provided many educational law cases, but there really was no search option so you need to know what you are looking for before you use it and the statutes, articles, and other resources section of the page still had a lot of holes. (Please comment with links if you know of other resources).

In 2005-06, I did a quick study of educational law resource availability online and this is the report I wrote at that time.

Opening Educational Law's Cloister Door: An Infrastructure Inquiry of Educationally Related Legal Sources on the Internet. Link (.pdf). See my rating scale for educational law related websites below (on page 56 of the report for a larger version):

Anyway, all of this of course begs the question ... why not? Why are there so few legal resources online related to schools and education? Given the extremely significant number of people having a relationship with education (6.2 million teachers, 76.6 million students ... on any given day over 1/4 of the U.S. population are in schools) it seems a serious omission. Sure, there are limited resources available, but there is no place that attempts to aggregate those resources. This is something we need to work on in the coming years and hopefully something that the Educational Law Association or different educational law organizations can take the lead in so that there is not just a bunch of individual, uncoordinated efforts.

The worst part is that there are resources already available and much of the hard work is already being done. The problem is that we are just not thinking about making this already-existing work available in electronic, freely accessible ways. For instance, I write for the School Law Reporter which is a monthly benefit given to all dues paying members of the Education Law Association. The writers for the School Law Reporter are all educational law scholars that brief nearly all the educational law cases that are decided each month. At the end of the year, members are given a yearly index of all the cases that were briefed. What if that was in a freely accessible database that could be searched with outside links to the full text of the cases? Over time, the number of cases would build and there would a critical mass of educational law cases to drive usership. While the resource is currently seen as a benefit to encourage membership, imagine 1000 daily hits to the ELA homepage ... seems like that would encourage membership also (see this post about how ELA does not even show up on the first Google search page). Additionally, ELA could throw up an advertisement or two that could drive additional revenue which in turn could lower the cost of dues and again increase membership.

Increasingly, these free legal resources are going to be important. A friend of mine this semester is teaching an educational law course to pre-service educational leaders entirely online. The students cannot use Lexis-Nexis Academic in this type of course structure and she too asked me where she can find educational law resources online that she can have her students use to write papers. Of course, I helped point her to the few resources that are available and she committed to using those if nothing else, but she was still undecided whether she could have students write the research paper given the lack of available legal resources. This is a common problem - as indicated above with the in-service teacher training. Even I train my students on Lexis Nexis, but I know full well that they will probably never have access to that resource in their careers and they will probably never use it again. We have to be proactive in our approach to providing educational law resources online. We need to put the important cases online and we need to keep that case database updated, either in a wiki format or through an association. We need to provide links and access to school law statutes and regulations. To legal commentary (what about an electronic, peer-reviewed journal?) and news (blogs are making progress here). All of us educational lawyers are working to improve education through our research, writing and teaching. But, if the vast, vast majority of educational practitioners and students cannot access this scholarship, just how useful is it? I am not against people making a buck and there will always be a significant role for Lexis and Westlaw and Law Journals and there is a certain audience of educational law scholars and practitioners that are always going to be willing to pay for services that the general population will not. But, we need to get some educational law information into the hands of the general public and the easiest and best way to do that is by building the educational law infrastructure online.

Legacy Admissions & the Constitution

For the past week, in my undergraduate educational law course, we have been talking about desegregation and affirmative action. As such, we have been discussing Grutter v. Bollinger and Parents Involved v. Seattle.  These cases both concerned admission decisions based on race, at the higher ed. and K-12 levels, respectively. In our discussions, we have talked a lot about admission policies and all the different factors that can be considered when admitting a student to a university. One of those admission factors my colleagues and I always point out is legacy admissions. All of the students are somewhat sour on legacy admissions, as am I, so I thought I would point out this New York Times article (also this ABA Journal) on legacy admissions and a new, unique way of considering their unconstitutionality under the Nobility Clause of the Constitution.

LII: Constitution via kwout

A Question I Get All the Time: The New York "Supreme Court"

A question that always seems to come up is why are the New York lower courts called the "Supreme Court." This always confuses my students and when I was covering the NY State Courts for the School Law Reporter ... occasionally confused me. Well, Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy has the answer. Or at least his version of the answer as the comments also have a good deal of theories. Nevertheless, while I know it is a nice historical quirk, I would be fine if they changed their language to comport with the rest of the United States as I answer this question at least once a semester.

Drunk Photos and Facebook

Well, Facebook just continues to generate educational law news ... or in this case buzz. Andrew Paulson over at Board Buzz has an interesting account of students being disciplined and questions over photos of them on Facebook which showed them partying with alcohol. The incident even generated a walkout by some students at the school.

Andrew's questions in the BoardBuzz post are interesting, however, and worth an examination. Here is the quote:

"Is it the job of the administration to look at Facebook regularly and
be the Internet police for the students in their school? ... Or is it a matter of free speech since the photos were taken off
school property and parents should be aware of what their children are
posting on Facebook and they should handle discipling their children for underage drinking?"

First, the easy question ... free speech. Likely, in these cases of photos being posted on Facebook or other social networking sites, there will not be a First Amendment issue because the speech does not amount to an expression that has meaning (See, Jarman v. Williams, 753 F.2d 76 (1985)). Now, that is not to say that all Facebook posts do not amount to expression, certainly some can, but they must convey a clear meaning that is likely to be understood by a third party and it is hard to see how drunk photos do that.

Now, the harder question ... should school authorities consider it part of their job to search Facebook? First, the law considers Facebook (and the Internet in general) to be a public space (even if student's hold to the misconception that it is private) so the old rules of reasonable, individualized suspicion probably don't apply in a legal sense. So, can school authorities legally search Facebook? ... sure. Okay, with that out of the way, we can consider the "should" question. Should school administrators randomly be searching Facebook on their students? Here is the advice I have been giving when asked this question. Even though the traditional rules of reasonable, individualized suspicion probably don't apply to Internet and Facebook searches ... pretend that they do. What I absolutely don't want is a principal spending 4 hours a day randomly searching the net. While I promise that if they search in this manner they will find things to punish students for, they have far more important things to do like improving curriculum and evaluating teachers. But, if there is an individualized suspicion of a student that is reasonable, why not take 5 min. and see if that student has a Facebook page and run a few Google searches? If you find what you are looking for, go ahead and proceed with disciplinary action. If you find some other transgression in the process that you were not looking for, such as pictures of students drinking, well ... use your discretion - there is no rule saying you have to punish everything you see. The law gives principals discretion because we want them to use it. There are lots of bad things and lots of good things happening on the net, just as in classrooms. After a couple hundred years of education in this country we have determined that a reasonable, individualized suspicion standard is a good standard for searching in classrooms, so I don't see why it should be any different for the Internet. The Internet is becoming part of our schools, whether we like it or not. We can't just try to block everything all the time because students will always find ways around the boundaries we erect (again, this is no different than classrooms). We need to be honest with students and establish clear precedents regarding the school administration's relationship with the Web. I think a good standard that both school authorities and students can live with is a reasonable, individualized suspicion standard. Students should know the Internet and Facebook are not private places immune to searching by school authorities, but students should also know that school authorities are not "out to get them" and that they will only be searching the Net for information on their students if there is a reason to do so.     

Also see Mike Tully's recent entry at the Gate about the settlement of a facebook dispute in Ohio after the school overreacted and didn't use their discretion wisely.

Now here is a good idea: WiFi on Busses

Check out this cool idea ... WiFi on school busses. And not just WiFi, but also courses complete with online tests. Now, I know there is a lot that could go wrong with this just like with anything else, but I can't tell you how happy I would have been surfing the web or doing courses while on the bus (I was the first to be picked up and usually had a 60 min. bus ride). Nice idea and hopefully coming soon to a bus near you.

Politics and Teachers' Unions

The Nevada NEA is suing to block some caucus sites inside casinos and some speculate it is on behalf of the Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign for president. This lawsuit is aimed at stopping many in the gaming industry from voting in midday elections outside their home districts and comes on the heels of the Culinary Workers Union (Nevada's most powerful) endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for President.

I note this because just a couple of days ago the Salt Lake Tribune reported that the Utah Council of Educators
(Utah's non-union teacher association) is growing in strength. While the Utah Council of Educators has begun to engage in some lobbying efforts, I wonder if the type of activities some unions are engaging in, such as the Nevada NEA lawsuit, are not beginning to drive some teachers to seek alternatives to traditional unions. The Utah association probably gained members
during Utah's well publicized voucher fight where the Utah Education Association took a leading role in derailing legislative efforts
to install a voucher system. While according to their website the UEA
has 19,000 members and the UCE only has a few hundred, it is still an
interesting development that is not unique to Utah. According to the
Salk Lake Tribune article:

Utah is now one of more
than 20 states with such a nonunion education association. Though the
Utah council only has several hundred members, nationwide more than
300,000 teachers, school support staff and administrators are members
of such nonunion groups, said Heather Reams, associate director of the
Association of American Educators, which partners with many of the
groups, including the one in Utah.


In several states, including Georgia, Texas and Missouri, the
memberships of these nonunion groups, which often include all school
workers, have actually eclipsed memberships of those states' teachers
unions affiliated with the NEA.

While these independent, non-union teacher organizations are nothing new and have existed in many states for years, one has to wonder whether the NEA and its affiliates' interjection into these political fights is harming membership. I am especially concerned with this Nevada lawsuit. The union is not only backing a candidate, which it has every right to do, it is also now doing the candidate's dirty work. I am not quite sure that is what the dues paying members had in mind when they ponied up their $600+ for their union dues.

Pledge of Allegiance - State Requirements

I was asked the other day about the different state requirements to say the Pledge of Allegiance across the United States. This First Amendment Center article has the status of different states as of mid-2006 and it is the best advice I can pass along at the moment. If someone has something newer, please let me know.

Utah Council of Educators - Pseudo-Union?

An interesting group of teachers have formed in Utah, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports today. The Utah Council of Educators does not engage in collective bargaining, but is funded by member dues, making it more of a professional organization than a union. However, this association does engage in lobbying efforts and does provide educator liability insurance. The association probably gained members during Utah's well publicized voucher fight where the Utah Education Association took a leading role in derailing legislative efforts to install a voucher system. While according to their website the UEA has 19,000 members and the UCE only has a few hundred, it is still an interesting development that is not unique to Utah. According to the Salk Lake Tribune article:

   Utah is now one of more
than 20 states with such a nonunion education association. Though the
Utah council only has several hundred members, nationwide more than
300,000 teachers, school support staff and administrators are members
of such nonunion groups, said Heather Reams, associate director of the
Association of American Educators, which partners with many of the
groups, including the one in Utah.

    In several states, including Georgia, Texas and Missouri, the
memberships of these nonunion groups, which often include all school
workers, have actually eclipsed memberships of those states' teachers
unions affiliated with the NEA.

To a Midwesterner, where unions are still relatively strong, this movement to professional associations in lieu of teacher's unions is striking. It would make for a great legal-oriented dissertation to find out more about the structure and purpose of these relatively new groups.

Here are some links to some other non-union teacher groups:

New Pro-Evolution Report

Making news the past couple of days is a new report out from the National Academy of Sciences. The report questions creationism's continuing presence in discussions of science curriculum. It has some pretty strong things to say about creationism and intelligent design (including below) and no doubt will be used by advocates on both sides for many years to come. This issue just gets more interesting all the time.

41.png (PNG Image, 550x799 pixels) - Scaled (94%) via kwout

Happy Birthday NCLB! Your Present? A Big Legal Loss in Pontiac v. Spellings

Well, tomorrow is the birthday of NCLB. It is officially 6 years old and lots of folks have a something to say about it, as BoardBuzz notes (also, Alexander Russo, Cato).   President Bush, for his part, went to a Chicago elementary school to celebrate and there he issued a fact sheet touting NLCB's achievements and reiterating his proposals for reauthorization (audio of an NPR summary of potential changes). Sen. Kennedy also had something to say.

Well, almost as if it was fate, today there is word that the Pontiac v. Spellings lawsuit is back on after the Sixth Circuit court of appeals reversed a district court ruling finding for the Department of Education. The case concerns the "unfunded mandate" provision of NCLB which states, “[n]othing in this Act shall be construed to . . . mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act,” 20 U.S.C. § 7907(a). The eight school districts and National and State Educational Associations contend that this provision does not require compliance with NCLB if doing so would force the school to spend additional local or state dollars. Alternatively, the U.S. Department of Education argues that the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires schools to follow all of the law, regardless of complete federal dollars. It is no secret that Congress has not allocated all the dollars that were authorized for the law. Over the course of five years, the difference between the actual expenditure and the authorization has totaled over 30 billion dollars. Schools have had to cover the difference between what the law costs to implement and what the Federal government appropriates with state and local dollars. This difference is the central issue in this case and the schools sought a declaratory judgment stating that they need not use state and local dollars for this supplemental purpose and that other federal funding cannot be withheld for failures to implement where Federal dollars are insufficient. The District Court denied the request.

On appeal in the Sixth Circuit, the court used the recent special education case, Arlington v. Murphy, to illustrate that the central question was whether a reasonable state official would have believed that their obligation under the Act included following the all the provisions, even when the money was insufficient. The court said:

a state official would not clearly understand that obligation to exist. To the contrary, based on this text, a state official could plausibly contend that she understood exactly the opposite—that her State need not comply with NCLB requirements for which federal funding falls short.

The District Court concluded that this provision only meant to stop rogue federal officials from enacting new provisions, but the Appeals Court disagreed. After reviewing the legislative history of the law and interpreting the plain meaning of the statute, the court concluded:

a state official deciding to participate in NCLB could reasonably read § 7907(a) to mean that her State need not comply with requirements that are “not paid for under the Act” through federal funds. Thus, Congress has not “spoke[n] so clearly that we can fairly say that the State[s] could make an informed choice” to participate in the Act with the knowledge that they would have to comply with the Act’s requirements regardless of federal funding. Of course, if that ultimately is what Congress intended, the ball is properly left in its court to make that clear.

While this is only the opinion of the Sixth Circuit and clearly does not put an end to NCLB (remember if there are federal dollars to cover the laws provisions, they must be implemented), this is a major victory for states and schools that are struggling to pay for the implementation of NCLB out of their own pockets.

[Crossposted At the Schoolhouse Gate]

Texting Students: Not so Bad

Proof that texting in schools is not all bad: College and university officials are now utilizing text messages to relay various messages to students, including information about hazards on campus and snow days. This after using the texting system to alert students of school violence dangers in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. School officials have spent years trying to get the students to stop texting, but now it seems universities may be encouraging it. Just the latest example of schools using new technology to their advantage after thinking it was the end of the world (remember "the students can text each other exam answers scare?"). Next, I suppose schools will start instant messaging their students.

Online Degrees: Fair or Phony

A question I seemed to get asked a lot concerns the validity of online degrees. My standard response is that it depends on the program. Then, invariably, I will get asked whether "X" University is an acceptable online university degree program. Of course, I am never familiar with the program they ask me about so I usually just respond that they need to know whether it is accredited and they need to know their alternative options.

Here is a link to an MSNBC report on the validity of Online Degrees. Basically, I agree with the report and if you are also a person that gets asked this question a lot, perhaps you can refer them to it.

Here is one of my personal stories on the issue and the one I tell people when I am asked about this. My sister who works in DC as a nurse (and works odd hours), was looking for a way to get a Masters in nursing within her odd schedule. She asked me what I thought about several of the online options she identified. I told her that some of them might be acceptable, but I also asked whether she had examined what the traditional universities were offering within her area. She had checked some (GMU, Maryland, etc.) but not all. I told her that first we needed to check with them because I consider a traditional university still the best option for a college degree if it is possible (there are elements of scholarship and expertise sometimes not found in newer programs). After some looking, we identified that George Washington University had started an online program which offered several degrees in Nursing and required only a minimal on campus commitment (an occasional weekend and a week during the summer). My sister has related the findings that the coursework has been rigorous and demanding, but that overall she has been very pleased with the experience and feels very comfortable with her degree from a respected university. 

People just need to be aware of their options before signing up for any program (including traditional programs). While this may take some additional time and effort, usually there will be a program that both meets a student's time needs but also offers accreditation and a respected name.

EDIT: Also, if you have a ton of time on your hands, you can take classes at some of the nation's best schools ... for free. Is it too soon to start my 1 year old on courses in MIT's engineering program?

Chicago Military Academies

The Newshour had an interesting story on the use of military type academies in Chicago's public schools. While anyone who has had a class with me will know I am certainly a fan of discipline and hard work,  this may be a little too far. Most strikingly, these military academies are only based in low-income African American and Latino parts of the city and not based in White areas of the city, such as the suburbs. On the other hand, it is hard to argue with their results in terms of graduation and college placement. Of course, that is only one outcome measurement and I do wonder what other effects this type of schooling would have on students generally.

Newshour Video (Click on Streaming Video)

Also, below is a great clip of the Drill Championships at one of the military schools. It includes some interesting images and is worth a bit of reflection.

The Nine: A Review

Well, I just finished The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin. It was good and I recommend it to people that are familiar/interested with the Justices on the Supreme Court. Couple of things I would say about it. First, I learned a lot about the Justices that I did not know, especially some of the lesser known Justices like Breyer and Souter. I learned some addition things about the Clarence Thomas nomination. I have a deeper respect (if possible) for Justice O'Conner. I will say I thought a little too much attention was focused on abortion. I thought it did a decent job on Lawrence v. Texas. I thought it could have done a better job on U.S. v. Lopez. I thought he could have spent a little more time on the recent affirmative action cases. And, I really didn't understand the point of the last chapter. 

Lastly, I think Toobin overestimates the coming conservative revolution on the court. I still think Justice Kennedy, as the swing vote, will be somewhat unpredictable going forward. Further, while I think it is a safe bet that Justice Alito will continue to be very conservative, I am not sure Justice Roberts will be as reliable.

New Creationism/Evolution Front

Here is the newest front in the creationism/evolution battle:

Creation college seeks state's OK to train teachers

Dallas school plans master's in science education, fueling debate over teaching evolution

08:40 AM CST on Saturday, December 15, 2007

By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
hhacker@dallasnews.com

Texas' debate over teaching evolution is going to college.

The nonprofit Institute for Creation Research in Dallas wants to train
future science teachers in Texas and elsewhere using an online
curriculum. A state advisory group gave its approval Friday; now the
final say rests with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,
which will consider the request next month.

The
institute's proposal comes amid a fierce debate over how to teach
evolution – the theory that humans and other species evolved from lower
forms of life – in Texas public schools.

Some advocacy
groups are attacking the creation institute's plan, saying it's an
attempt to undermine the teaching of science in public schools.

"They teach distorted science," said Eugenie Scott, executive director
of the California-based National Center for Science Education, which
opposes teaching creationism in public schools. "Any student coming out
from the ICR with a degree in science would not be competent to teach
in Texas public schools."

The institute was created in
1970 by the late Henry M. Morris, a Dallas native known as the father
of "creation science," the view that science – not just religion –
indicates that a divine being created the Earth and all living things.

Patricia Nason, chairwoman of the institute's science education
department, said that, despite the institute's name, students learn
evolution along with creationism.

"Our students are given
both sides," said Dr. Nason, who has a doctorate in curriculum and
instruction from Texas A&M University. "They need to know both
sides, and they can draw their own conclusion."

The institute, through its graduate school, wants to offer an online master's degree in science education.

According to the school's Web site, it offers typical education
classes, teaching such fundamentals as how to use lab equipment, the
Internet and PowerPoint in the classroom. But it also offers a class
called "Advanced studies in creationism."

Continue Reading ...

I think I would have to agree with Jonathan Adler at the Volokh Conspiracy that it may be better to pass on this. Nothing against private education, but when the name of the university conflicts with standard education curriculum, perhaps that is a hint something fishy is probably going to happen.

It does bring to mind the large amount of power state accreditation boards have over education, however. While relatively unnoticed, they control the gateway to our teacher and administrator certification processes. Everyone involved in educator preparation should be paying a little more attention to what is coming before these state panels, as this story illustrates.

Disciplined Teacher Database

See my post today At the Schoolhouse Gate on the newly released list by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune of teachers with disciplinary marks on their state teaching certificate. Scary stuff.

Blogging and Education Professors

Mitchell Rubinstein noted today that the University of Wisconsin Law School gave a good deal of credit to Law Professor Ann Althouse, whose blog was ranked in the top 100 law blogs by the ABA. The law school came out with this press release. The ABA top 100 can be found here (no, don't bother checking, the Edjurist is not on the list). If you are into the law, there are a ton of great legal blogs (blawgs) about pretty much everything. The ABA has them in categories so it should be easy to find a few that suit you. My personal favorite? The Volokh Conspiracy (although I could live without the advertising it has on it now). Here are some other educational law blogs categorized at the ABA. And, one last hint, if you are looking for recent legal information and can't afford Westlaw or Lexis, searching the ABA Blawg Directory is a great place to start to find some current events and some legal analysis. It searches not only the educational law blogs, but also all the other legal based blogs. The ABA does screen the blawgs it chooses to list, so there is some degree of confidence in the material (at least better than Google). This is a good spot to point out to our students in educational law courses as they can go back to it even after they leave our class.

Anyway, this got me to thinking ... what if the Edjurist did by some miracle (and it would take a big one) wound up on this list? What would the education school that I work for had done? ... My guess? ... Probably the first thing they would have asked me is "what is a 'blog' and why are you doing that?" Even if this would have got to my school of education's media guy (who I am sure is familiar with blogs), I am not sure they would have done anything with it. Maybe I am underestimating schools of ed., but, having lived in both worlds, it seems law schools are much more keyed into emerging markets and communication streams. Schools of education, in their drive to remain pseudo-scientific in nature and mission, hold fast to traditional elements of scholarship. I really hope that schools of education pick up on these new scholarship outlets soon. Blogs should be an acceptable and even encouraged element of faculty scholarship as long as they pull their weight in traditional outlets as well ... but as of now they probably don't even count as service.

New ISLLC Standards Approved

Apparently, the new ISLLC standards were approved today by NPBEA (from an NCPEA update). The ISLLC standards are the standards for school administrator preparation that serve as the basis for most state's regulations of educational leadership preparation providers. Just wanted to give a heads up. I will update when I have a link.

Update: Here are the New Standards (Passed along by Gary Martin of NCPEA).

Standard 1: An education leader promotes the success of every student
by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and
stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by all
stakeholders

Functions:

A. Collaboratively develop and implement a shared vision and mission.

B. Collect and use data to identify goals, assess organizational effectiveness, and promote organizational learning

C. Create and implement plans to achieve goals

D. Promote continuous and sustainable improvement

E. Monitor and evaluate progress and revise plans

Standard 2: An education leader promotes the success of every student
by advocating, nurturing and sustaining a school culture and
instructional program conducive to student learning and staff
professional growth.

Functions:

A. Nurture and sustain a culture of collaboration, trust, learning, and high expectations

B. Create a comprehensive, rigorous, and coherent curricular program

C. Create a personalized and motivating learning environment for students

D. Supervise instruction

E. Develop assessment and accountability systems to monitor student progress.

F. Develop the instructional and leadership capacity of staff

G. Maximize time spent on quality instruction

H. Promote the use of the most effective and appropriate technologies to support teaching and learning

I. Monitor and evaluate the impact of the instructional program

Standard 3: An education leader promotes the success of every student
by ensuring management of the organization, operation, and resources
for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

Functions

A. Monitor and evaluate the management and operational systems

B. Obtain, allocate, align, and efficiently utilize human, fiscal, and technological resources

C. Promote and protect the welfare and safety of students and staff

D. Develop the capacity for distributed leadership

E. Ensure teacher and organizational time is focused to support quality instruction and student learning

Standard 4: An education leader promotes the success of every student
by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to
diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community
resources.

Functions

A. Collect and analyze data and information pertinent to the educational environment

B. Promote understanding, appreciation, and use of the community’s diverse cultural, social, and intellectual resources

C. Build and sustain positive relationships with families and caregivers

D. Build and sustain productive relationships with community partners

Standard 5: An education leader promotes the success of every student
by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.

Functions

A. Ensure a system of accountability for every student’s academic and social success

B. Model principles of self-awareness, reflective practice, transparency, and ethical behavior

C. Safeguard the values of democracy, equity, and diversity

D. Consider and evaluate the potential moral and legal consequences of decision-making

E. Promote social justice and ensure that individual student needs inform all aspects of schooling

Standard 6: An education leader promotes the success of every student
by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social,
economic, legal, and cultural context.

Functions

A. Advocate for children, families, and caregivers

B. Act to influence local, district, state, and national decisions affecting student learning

C. Assess, analyze, and anticipate emerging trends and initiatives in order to adapt leadership strategies

Alaska to Spend a Billion Dollars a Year on Education

Just in case you were having doubts about how much we spend on education at the state level, the Governor of Alaska announced last week that she intends to increase state dollars for education to a billion dollars a year within the next three years.

The state revenues for each state can be seen here. Alaska ranks 43 for the sheer amount of money it provides its schools. However, if divided per capita, Alaska ranks in the top 5.

Suspended for Hate List

A student in Colorado composed a "hate list" of less than 5 students at Sagewood Middle School.
The list contained "no threat or intent to harm anyone" but was
apparently just a list of peers the student in question disliked.
Nevertheless, the student was suspended.



Joanne Jacobs wonders what the district would do if it got its hands on Santa's naughty list.



Crossposted At The Schoolhouse Gate