Legal Rights of School Leaders, Teachers, and Students

This succinct resource helps academic professionals understand how basic legal principles apply to educational questions
Written in a reader-friendly style that legal novices can easily understand, Legal Rights of School Leaders, Teachers, and Students details the principles underlying school law and provides essential guidelines for school personnel to follow in their everyday work. Descriptive scenarios of landmark cases and compelling visuals clarify concepts and help educators understand the context of legal principles as they apply to a range of school issues. While the coverage is comprehensive, the presentation is straightforward and non-technical with extensive footnotes that allow readers to delve further into topics.

This 8th Edition combines two highly successful books, Public School Law: Teachers’ and Students’ Rights and Legal Rights of Teachers and Students, with updated coverage of current and emerging legal issues, policies, and judicial decisions that affect classroom teachers. A new chapter on alternatives to traditional public schooling and expanded discussions of technology and social media use, rights of students with disabilities, and the importance of legal literacy keep readers informed and prepared to face today’s educational issues.

Martha McCarthy, Presidential Professor at Loyola Marymount University and Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, teaches educational law and policy courses. She has authored or coauthored 13 books and more than 300 articles and made frequent presentations on various school law topics and educational leadership programs and faculty members. She has served as President of the Education Law Association (ELA) and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and Vice President for Division A of the American Educational Research Association. Among honors, she has received lifetime achievement awards from ELA, UCEA, and the International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership. Her current research focuses on school choice initiatives and First Amendment religion and speech issues.

Suzanne Eckes is a professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Indiana University. Dr. Eckes has published widely about education law issues (e.g., American Educational Research Journal, Berkeley Review of Education, Review of Research in Education, Teachers College Record, Peabody Journal, Educational Policy, Educational Administration Quarterly, and Journal of School Leadership). She is a co-author or co-editor of several books, including Principals Teaching the Law (Corwin), Principals Avoiding Lawsuits (Rowman & Littlefield), Contemporary Legal Issues in Higher Education (3rd ed., Education Law Association), School Discipline and Safety, and The Principal’s Legal Handbook (3rd-5th ed., Education Law Association). Much of her research focuses on how civil rights laws influence policy for historically marginalized populations in public schools. She is the President of the Education Law Association and a monthly legal contributor to the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ magazine.

Janet Decker teaches school law courses to undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, and law students at Indiana University. She is the co-author or co-editor of the following books: The Principal's Legal Handbook (6th ed., Education Law Association); How to Prevent Special Education Litigation (Teachers College Press); and A Guide to Special Education Law (Education Law Association). Dr. Decker's publications have also appeared in education and law journals (e.g., Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, Peabody Journal of Education, Journal of School Choice, Teaching Exceptional Children, BYU Education and Law Journal, and Utah Law Review). Dr. Decker also serves on the Education Law Association’s Board of Directors. She became interested in special education policy when she taught students with autism.

1. Introduction to School Law
2. Tort Liability
3. Church/State Relations
4. Instructional Issues
5. Student Expression, Association, and Appearance
6. Student Classifications
7. Rights of Students with Disabilities
8. Student Discipline
9. Terms and Conditions of Employment
10. Teachers’ Substantive Constitutional Rights
11. Discrimination in Employment
12. Termination in Employment
13. Alternatives to Traditional Public Schooling to Increase Educational Choice
14. Summary of Legal Generalizations