In May, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly voted to pass House Bill 4209, which addresses instructional mandates in public schools. If signed by the Governor, the amendment to the School Code would establish a task force to study the […]
In B.H. v. Joliet School District No. 86, a federal court recently rejected a parent’s claim that the school district discriminated against her child, a special education student, by refusing to hold an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting after school hours. […]
In L.R. v. Steelton-Highspire School District, a federal court in Pennsylvania held that the school district violated the McKinney-Vento Act when it refused to re-enroll a student with disabilities when he presented for enrollment as a homeless student for the 2009-2010 […]
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in D.S. v. Bayonne Board of Education that a learning disabled student’s individualized educational program (IEP) failed to provide him with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Despite the student having received high marks […]
Two recent cases highlight the limitations school districts face when trying to be proactive in restricting arguably offensive student speech before it has a negative effect at school. In the first case, Zamecnik v. Indian Prairie Sch. Dist. # 204 Bd. […]
Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Department of Education has implemented a new policy under which it will consider more rigorous factors to assess compliance by colleges, universities and secondary schools with Title IX’s mandate for equal athletic opportunities […]
The Pledge of Allegiance survived review by a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over 11 Western states. In Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District the atheist parents of a number […]
The U.S. Department of Education recently indicated plans to intensify civil rights oversight and enforcement efforts by its Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The OCR division of the Department of Education enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination against students based on […]
