Most changes we’ve seen from the U.S. Department of Education (Department) these past two-and-a-half years have dealt with sex, gender, race, color, and national origin—not a disability—and most have reduced federal oversight, not expanded it. The majority of the cases […]
The Supreme Court recently declined to hear a case involving a public school district that fired its football coach for kneeling and praying on the football field after games. If the Supreme Court isn’t even hearing the case, why is […]
In a recent decision, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor (PAC), which enforces the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA), found that a school district violated the OMA when it limited the public comment period of a school board meeting […]
The 180-page report of the Federal Commission on School Safety is out and garnering significant media attention. The U.S. Department of Education also announced this afternoon that, based on the Commission’s recommendation, it is withdrawing the 2014 Dear Colleague Letter on Nondiscriminatory Administration of […]
Updated February 27, 2020 With PERA’s full implementation on September 1, 2016, it is important to remember that all full-time probationary teachers who are first employed with a school district after a district’s PERA implementation date are subject to the new tenure […]
In a recent nonbinding letter, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor reportedly requested that public boards allow members of the public to speak about concerns with the conduct of specific board members. Boards and their members are not required to respond […]
As we mentioned in our article last month, the November 2018 version of the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Case Processing Manual (CPM), deleted a section that was added in March 2018 that allowed OCR to dismiss burdensome complaints by […]
Although months have passed since a new law addressing public education funding in Illinois was signed, confusion lingers over the impact of the law on an instructional day for students. Public Act 100-0465, or the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, […]
