Law review digests(Proquest Information and Learning: ... denotes title omitted.) primary & secondary education

Journal of Law and Education, Apr 2003

School Vouchers: The Answer to a Failing Public School System, 23 HAMLINE J. PUB. L. & POLY 73 (2001). The author provides a cursory analysis of this complicated issue, bolstering her argument with statistics from a school choice advocacy group, and asserting that students in public schools would benefit from vouchers because class sizes would be reduced and public schools would be "forced" to manage their budgets efficiently.

A Search for the Best IDEA: Balancing the Conflicting Provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, 55 VAND. L. REV. 579(2002). The purpose of IDEA was to allow disabled children equal access to the fundamental right of public schooling. However, financial costs of mainstreaming these children must be considered. The author suggests that costs must be balanced against the benefits that the disabled child, the teachers, and other students receive by having disabled children added to the classroom environment. The Supreme Court should also focus on addressing the academic and nonacademic benefits that disabled children receive in a regular classroom.

Sexuality and HIV/Aids Education Curricula, 3 GEO. J. GENDER & L. 547 (2002). This note explores states' differing stances on whether areas of sexual education such as sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, and sexual orientation should be required or restricted by law.

Standardized Testing, 3 GEO. J. GENDER & L. 481 (2002). Male students typically score higher on standardized tests. However, Title IX provides remedies when standardized testing is used in a manner which disparately impacts women in the determination of scholarships and other financial aid awards.

Casenotes

Patricia Abbott, Sain v. Cedar Rapids Community School District: Providing Special Protection for Student Athletes?, 2002 B.Y.U. EDUC. & L.J. 291 (2002). This note analyzes the holding in Sain v. Cedar Rapids Community School District and contrasts it with the holding in Brown v. Compton Unified School District. Further, the note discusses constitutional arguments that could bolster judicial recognition of special relationships between student athletes and educational institutions. It also discusses possible impediments to that recognition, and explains how Sain could serve as precedent for special protection of student athletes.

Rebecca N. Cordero, No Expectation of Privacy: Should School Officials Be Able to Search Students' Lockers Without Any Suspicion of Wrong Doing? A Study of In Re Patrick Y. and Its Effect on Maryland Public School Students, 31 U. BALT. L. REV. 305 (2002). This comment describes how the Court of Appeals of Maryland has severely impacted the Fourth Amendment rights of students through its decision in In Re Patrick Y. It begins with an overview of the Fourth Amendment, a history cases dealing with student searches, and a brief history of Maryland's treatment of student searches. It concludes that students in Maryland should not be subject to standardless searches, and school officials should have at least a reasonable suspicion before entering a student's locker. Implications of Buckhannon Board and Home Health Care, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources for Due Process under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, 2002 BYU EDUC. & L.J. 333 (2002). In Buckhannon, the U.S. Supreme Court held that in order to be awarded attorney fees when suing a school system under IDEA, there must be a final enforceable judgment for attorney fees. The author believes that this new policy will lead to an increase in litigation so that a person suing a school system will get a final order that will grant them attorney fees. In contrast, school systems will be attempting to settle most cases in order to avoid the potential of having to pay the Plaintiff's attorney fees.