Education Law and Policy

Catalog description

This seminar will explore the difficult legal, political and practical issues currently confronting American education. The course will begin with an analysis of the fundamental political and legal principles underlying the American public education system. Students will then be challenged to apply these principles to difficult areas of education law, such as: (1) the adequacy and equity of school funding; (2) the nature of a constitutional right to education; (3) the relationship between public education and religious institutions and practices; (4) legal issues relating to curriculum; (5) equal educational rights, including issues of desegregation and affirmative action; (6) the constitutional rights of students; (7) special education; and (8) the rights and responsibilities of educators. Students will be required to participate actively in class, to facilitate class discussion of a selected topic, and to submit a paper which analyzes critically an important issue raised in the class. There will be no final examination. This course counts as a Perspective Elective course.