"Now teachers have an absolute desk reference that could be called ′How to Stay in the Classroom and Out of the Courtroom!" —John Casper, District Achievement Gap Coordinator Kentucky Department of Education "Reading this book is the next best thing to taking a class on education law. It could well serve as the resource for such a class!" —Deanna Brunlinger, Science Teacher Elkhorn Area High School, WI Everything teachers need to know about education law Do you know what you can and can′t do and say in your school? Most teacher education programs offer little, if any, instruction on education law. When teachers need advice regarding employment or instructional issues, they may find the search frustrating, time-consuming, or costly. Teachers will find the answers to their most frequently asked legal questions in this easy-to-read book. Key topics include: Certification, tenure, evaluation, and dismissal Collective bargaining and teacher contracts Constitutional rights of teachers Discrimination and harassment Academic freedom Grading policy and integrity of student records Copyright law Safety Also covered are tort liability, teachers′ responsibilities regarding the safety and well-being of their students, and teachers′ protection from defamation. Educators will find practical suggestions, vignettes, and summaries of judicial opinions with real-world applications. Don′t wait for a problem to arise. Read this book and be prepared.

The second edition of Legal Rights of Teachers and Students provides an applied treatment of the current status of the law governing public schools in the key areas that concern teachers AND students. Written for the growing undergraduate and returning professional audience of teachers, this text addresses legal principles applicable to pre-service and in-service practitioners in a succinct, comprehensive manner. This book addresses the central issues that concern school personnel in their daily activities: church/state relations, instructional issues, student expression, students with disabilities, student discipline, teacher employment, TEACHERS' SUBSTANTIVE RIGHTS, termination of employment and tort liability. Information in this text will guide PRACTITIONERS and help alleviate concerns voiced by new educators who don't know the legal concepts that govern schools.

This book gives principals the tools they need to avoid lawsuits by teaching their staff the information they need to practice preventive law. Lawsuits often begin when teachers unintentionally violate students' rights such as searching a student's cell phone without reasonable suspicion or failing to follow a student's Individualized Education Program. These violations do not occur because teachers intend to break the law. They occurred because the vast majority of teachers are not required to learn about the rights and responsibilities of students and teachers in their teacher preparation programs. As a result, most teachers get their legal information from the "law school" of the teachers' lounge--that is, from colleagues who are similarly uninformed and misinformed. Instead, what teachers want and need is an in-service program that will provide them with a basic understanding of school law. But most busy principals don't have the time, knowledge and resources to provide such a program for their staff. This book will meet this critical, unmet need. It provides principals with the resources and lesson plans they need to incorporate school law into their professional development program. As a result, their teachers will get their information about school law from a reliable source - not from the rumors, fears and myths of the teachers' lounge. By empowering their teachers with legal knowledge, principals and teachers will avoid lawsuits by becoming partners in the practice of preventive law.