This week’s issue of Education Week has the following school-law related stories:
Teachers’ Union Deductions: This story is a slightly longer version of last week’s post and Web-only story about the U.S. Supreme Court accepting review of an appeal from the state of Idaho over its law that prohibits school districts from using their payroll systems to deduct from employees’ paychecks for the unions’ political activities.
Student’s IM Threat: I have this story that expands on last week’s post about the high court declining to review the appeal of a student suspended for using an icon for his AOL Instant Message signature that suggested his English teacher should be killed.
Justice O’Connor on Civics: I had hoped retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor might have more to say about school law, such as where the conservatives on the court are taking her delicately crafted jurisprudence on affirmative action and racial diversity in education, when she addressed the National School Boards Association convention in Orlando last week. But she pretty much stuck to her planned remarks on the need to improve civic education, as reflected in this story.