Court Cases

Education news, analysis, and opinion about lawsuits and legal proceedings
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Budget & Finance Q&A How Fair School Funding Became the Unlikely Topic for a Student Podcast
Three students hosted a weekly podcast as their district and others fought against a funding formula they said shortchanged poorer schools.
Mark Lieberman, March 23, 2023
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5 min read
Miguel Perez
Miguel Luna Perez, who is deaf, attended schools in Michigan's Sturgis Public School District from ages 9 through 20.
Photo courtesy of Luna Perez family
Law & Courts Supreme Court Rules Deaf Student Can Sue School District Over Alleged Failures
The justices rule that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not bar the student's suit for money damages.
Mark Walsh, March 21, 2023
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5 min read
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, on Oct. 18, 2018.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at near sunset in Washington, on Oct. 18, 2018.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo
Law & Courts After 50 Years, a U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Educational Equity Is Still Debated
In a school finance case from Texas, the justices held that the wealth of districts was not subject to extra constitutional scrutiny.
Mark Walsh, March 20, 2023
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12 min read
Audriana Lima, 14, a current freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, visits a display of portraits of the 17 students and staff who were killed in a school shooting five years earlier, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, Fla. Family members, neighbors, and well-wishers turned out to multiple events Tuesday to honor the lives of those killed on Valentine's Day 2018.
Audriana Lima, 14, a current freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, visits a display of portraits of the 17 students and staff who were killed in a school shooting five years earlier, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, Fla.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Law & Courts Florida Law Requiring Gun Buyers to Be 21 Is Upheld
A federal appeals court said the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act is consistent with the Second Amendment.
Mark Walsh, March 10, 2023
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4 min read
Student debt relief advocates gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Feb. 28, 2023, as the court heard arguments over President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan.
Student debt relief advocates gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Feb. 28, 2023, as the court heard arguments over President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan.
Patrick Semansky/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Will Decide Fate of Student Loan Relief: What Teachers Need to Know
The AFT and NEA remind the justices in briefs that teachers carry significant student debt and the pandemic made things worse.
Mark Walsh, February 28, 2023
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6 min read
Pastor Thomas Dixon speaks at a rally at the Richland County courthouse, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in Columbia, S.C., asking prosecutors to drop charges against a 16-year-old South Carolina high school student who was videotaped being yanked from her desk and thrown to the floor by a police officer in her classroom at Spring Valley High.
Pastor Thomas Dixon speaks at a rally at the Richland County courthouse, in December 2015 in Columbia, S.C., asking prosecutors to drop charges against a South Carolina high school student who was videotaped being yanked from her desk and thrown to the floor by a police officer in her classroom at Spring Valley High School.
Jeffrey Collins/AP
Law & Courts Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down South Carolina’s ‘Disturbing Schools’ Law
A federal appeals court held that the statutes, which have been the subject of nationwide attention, were unconstitutionally vague.
Mark Walsh, February 22, 2023
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4 min read
Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor speaks during a bill signing ceremony for a bill making it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
Then-Oklahoma Attorney General John M. O'Connor, shown last year in Oklahoma City, issued an advisory opinion last December that bolstered the prospects of charter schools sponsored by religious institutions.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
School Choice & Charters A Proposed Catholic Charter School Is New Test for Religion and Public Education
With a favorable state attorney general's opinion in hand, Catholic officials are set to ask for approval of the first religious charter.
Mark Walsh, February 9, 2023
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10 min read
Stock image of a gavel on top of a pile of money.
iStock/Getty Images
Education Funding Pennsylvania School Funding Is Unconstitutional, Judge Says. Here's What Could Happen Next
An appeal could be on the way, but advocates are already gearing up to make the case for funding reform.
Mark Lieberman, February 8, 2023
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6 min read
Photo illustration of gavel falling in front of a cascade of money.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty Images
Budget & Finance More Districts Are Paying Big to Resolve Sexual Misconduct Claims
A new report says schools and colleges had to pay out 69 damage awards and settlements of $1 million or more last year.
Caitlynn Peetz, February 7, 2023
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5 min read
Large white hand holding a weighing scale with a bag of money on one side and books with floating letters on the other side showing a balance of knowledge and money
iStock/Getty
Education Funding 6 Lawsuits That Could Shake Up How States Pay for Schools
Far removed from annual budgets, these lawsuits hold the potential to force states to direct more funds to their schools.
Mark Lieberman, January 27, 2023
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6 min read
Pills of the painkiller hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt., on Feb. 19, 2013.
In this 2013 file photo, hydrocodone pills—an opioid—are seen at a Vermont pharmacy. School districts are arguing that the nation's opioid crisis has directly affected them through increased costs for special education and overdose-prevention efforts.
Toby Talbot/AP
Law & Courts Some Schools Will Get Money From Opioid Settlements—But It Won't Be Easy
Conflicts and unanswered questions stymie schools' efforts to secure a share of recent legal settlements from opioid makers.
Mark Lieberman, January 20, 2023
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6 min read
Miguel Perez stands outside the Supreme Court after arguments in the case of Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools on Jan. 18, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
Miguel Perez, right, along with lawyer Roman Martinez, stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Wednesday after arguments in his case against his former school district in Sturgis, Mich.
Mark Walsh/Education Week
Special Education Supreme Court Seems in Favor of Deaf Student's Right to Sue School District Under the ADA
Miguel Luna Perez was there as the justices weighed issues in his case over his district allegedly failing to provide trained interpreters.
Mark Walsh, January 18, 2023
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7 min read
Illustration of a man on a ladder painting over a woman's speech bubble.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
School & District Management School Boards Are Limiting Public Comment. Will That Erode Trust?
School boards walk a fine line when they restrict public comment policies in a divisive political climate.
Evie Blad, January 18, 2023
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7 min read
Miguel Perez
Miguel Luna Perez in a 2016 yearbook photo as a senior at Sturgis High School in Michigan. Luna Perez, who is deaf, went on to the Michigan School for the Deaf in a settlement with his district but is seeking to sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for the district's alleged failures to provide him adequate assistance to communicate.
Photo courtesy of Luna Perez family
Special Education A Deaf Student Says His School District Failed Him. The Supreme Court Will Decide
Miguel Luna Perez received inadequate assistance for 12 years, his suit says. The high court will decide if he can pursue money damages.
Mark Walsh, January 17, 2023
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10 min read
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