Law Review Digests-Primary and Secondary Education

Journal of Law and Education, Oct 2004

Racial (De)Profiling: Modeling a Remedy For Racial Profiling After the School Desegregation cases, 22 Law & Ineq. 73 (2004). This article looks at the problem of racial profiling and argues that, like school segregation, it should be declared unconstitutional as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The author starts by presenting the background and history of racial profiling and its connection to equal protection. Next, the author compares school segregation to racial profiling and suggests that the same model used to remedy the former problem would also be effective at remedying the latter. The author concludes that the courts should no longer delay in declaring racial profiling as a Constitutional violation, and that steps must be taken to remedy the problem.

Vouchers for Religious Schools: The Death of Public Education?, 13 S. Cal. Interdise. L.J. 49 (2003). This article focuses on two issues involving school vouchers. First, the author analyzes whether vouchers violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by providing public funds to religious schools. Second, the author analyzes what effect the institution of voucher programs would have on public education. The author concludes that vouchers would be detrimental to public schools because they will not achieve the ultimate goal of improving student performance and they will also cause public schools to become more racially segregated.

Notes

Yohance C. Edwards and Jennifer Ahern, Unequal Treatment in State Supreme Courts: Minority and City Schools in Education Finance Reform Litigation, 79 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 326 (2004). Education is arguably the most important function of state and local governments. The author analyzes the roles of race and school district settings in determining the outcome of education finance reform litigation. The author's analysis includes matching the outcome of litigation within specific race groups.

Asthma and Pesticides in Public Schools: Does the ADA Provide a Remedy Where FIFRA Fails to Protect?, 31 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 149 (2004). This note addresses the issue of whether students with pesticideinduced asthma should be afforded protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and whether that protection would be in conflict with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The author gives a brief overview of how the ADA has been used to protect those with environmental disabilities and suggests that such protections could allow the prohibition of the use of chemical pesticides in public schools. The author concludes that the use of the ADA as a remedy for environmental disabilities does not conflict with FIFRA.

Divining Hazelwood: The Need For a Viewpoint Neutrality Requirement in School Speech cases, 39 Harv. Civ. Rights-Civ. Libs. L. Rev. 217 (2004). This note examines the Supreme Court case of Kuhlmeier v. Hazelwood School District and the circuit court split regarding that decision. The Supreme Court held that public schools have the right to censor student publications bearing the imprimatur of the school if the censorship is reasonably related to an academic concern. The decision has been extended to include the speech of students, teachers, and guests in classes and assemblies. The circuit courts are split on whether or not the decision requires viewpoint neutrality for school speech. The author argues that in order to cope with the issue of religious speech, viewpoint neutrality should be required in school speech cases.