Law & Courts

Education news, analysis, and opinion about court cases, lawsuits, and regulations affecting schools.
  • An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 2, 2020.
    An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Nov. 2, 2020.
    Patrick Semansky/AP
    Law & Courts When Blocking Social Media Critics, School Officials Have Protections, Supreme Court Says
    The court said public officials' own pages may be "state action," but only when they are exercising government authority.
    Mark Walsh, March 15, 2024
    6 min read
    A photograph of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died a day after a fight in a high school bathroom, is projected during a candlelight service at Point A Gallery, on Feb. 24, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Federal officials will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Benedict died, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2024.
    A photograph of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died a day after a fight in a high school restroom, is projected during a candlelight service at Point A Gallery, on Feb. 24, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Federal officials will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Benedict died, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2024.
    Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP
    Law & Courts Oklahoma Nonbinary Student's Death Shines a Light on Families' Legal Recourse for Bullying
    Students facing bullying and harassment from their peers face legal roadblocks in suing districts, but settlements appear to be on the rise
    Mark Walsh, March 6, 2024
    11 min read
    Rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 10, 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. A federal appeals court’s ruling in May 2023 about the admissions policy at the elite public high school in Virginia may provide a vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to flesh out the intended scope of its ruling Thursday, June 29, 2023, banning affirmative action in college admissions.
    A group of rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., in August 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 declined to hear a challenge to an admissions plan for the selective high school that was facially race neutral but designed to boost the enrollment of Black and Hispanic students.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines Case on Selective High School Aiming to Boost Racial Diversity
    Some advocates saw the K-12 case as the logical next step after last year's decision against affirmative action in college admissions
    Mark Walsh, February 20, 2024
    7 min read
    A close up of a statue of the blindfolded lady justice against a light blue background with a ghosted image of a hands holding a cellphone with Facebook "Like" and "Love" icons hovering above it.
    iStock/Getty
    Law & Courts School District Lawsuits Against Social Media Companies Are Piling Up
    More than 200 school districts are now suing the major social media companies over the youth mental health crisis.
    Arianna Prothero, January 31, 2024
    7 min read
    Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William O. Douglas is shown in an undated photo.
    U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, shown in an undated photo, wrote the opinion in <i>Lau</i> v. <i>Nichols</i>, the 1974 decision holding that the San Francisco school system had denied Chinese-speaking schoolchildren a meaningful opportunity to participate in their education.
    AP
    Law & Courts In 1974, the Supreme Court Recognized English Learners' Rights. The Story Behind That Case
    The Lau v. Nichols ruling said students have a right to a "meaningful opportunity" to participate in school, but its legacy is complex.
    Mark Walsh, January 19, 2024
    12 min read
    People stand on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
    People stand on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
    Mariam Zuhaib/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines to Hear School District's Transgender Restroom Case
    The case asked whether federal law protects transgender students on the use of school facilities that correspond to their gender identity.
    Mark Walsh, January 16, 2024
    4 min read
    AI Education concept in blue: A robot hand holding a pencil.
    iStock/Getty
    Law & Courts What a Proposed Ban on AI-Assisted ‘Deep Fakes’ Would Mean for Cyberbullying
    Students who create AI-generated, intimate images of their classmates would be breaking federal law, if a new bill is enacted.
    Alyson Klein, January 12, 2024
    2 min read
    The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 10, 2023.
    The Supreme Court building is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 10, 2023.
    Patrick Semansky/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines Case on Corporal Punishment for Student With Autism
    The justices refused to hear the appeal of an 11-year-old Louisiana student who alleges that two educators slapped her on her wrists.
    Mark Walsh, January 8, 2024
    3 min read
    Linda Brown Smith stands in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan., on May 8, 1964. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
    Linda Brown Smith stands in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan., in 1964, a segregated white school where she had been denied enrollment in 1951, leading to the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the "separate but equal" doctrine in the case that bears her family name, <i>Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.</i> The high court on Jan. 8 turned away an effort by descendants of the litigants in a companion desegregation case from South Carolina to rename the historic decision for their case, <i>Briggs</i> v. <i>Elliott</i>.
    AP
    Law & Courts U.S. Supreme Court Declines Bid to Rename 'Brown v. Board of Education'
    Descendants argued that their case, not the one from Topeka, Kan., should have topped the 1954 decision on racial segregation in schools.
    Mark Walsh, January 8, 2024
    3 min read
    People protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on June 29, 2023. The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
    People demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, the day the court struck down affirmative action in college admissions. A new federal appeals court ruling says that race-neutral criteria for Boston's selective high schools is consistent with the high court's ruling.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts Court Backs Race-Neutral Criteria in Selective K-12 Schools
    In a case involving Boston's "exam schools," the 1st Circuit said even admissions plans with a goal of boosting racial diversity pass muster.
    Mark Walsh, December 20, 2023
    4 min read
    In this Jan. 4, 2019 photo, workers and other officials gather outside the Sky Valley Education Center school in Monroe, Wash., before going inside to collect samples for testing. The samples were tested for PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, as well as dioxins and furans. A lawsuit filed on behalf of several families and teachers claims that officials failed to adequately respond to PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, in the school.
    In this Jan. 4, 2019 photo, workers and other officials gather outside the Sky Valley Education Center school in Monroe, Wash., before going inside to collect samples for testing. The samples were tested for PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, as well as dioxins and furans. A jury this week ordered Bayer, the company that owns the manufacturer of PCBs, to pay $857 million to families affected by PCB exposure at Sky Valley.
    Ted S. Warren/AP
    Law & Courts Producers of Toxic Chemicals in Schools Owe Hundreds of Millions in Damages, Jury Says
    Bayer, the company that owns Monsanto, owes more than $850 million to parents and children who suffered prolonged PCB exposure.
    Mark Lieberman, December 19, 2023
    3 min read
    Santaluces High School teacher Michael Woods stands in front of his school sign in Lantana, Fla., wearing his protest shirt "We Are All Human" in opposition to recent book bans by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 24, 2023. DeSantis is touting a series of measures he has pushed that have led to an upswing in banned or restricted books — not just in Florida schools but in an increasing number of other conservative states.
    Santaluces High School teacher Michael Woods, standing in front of his school in Lantana, Fla., on May 24, 2023, wears a protest shirt in the colors of the pride and transgender flags. Now, Florida is being sued over a law prohibiting teachers from using pronouns that don't align with their sex at birth.
    Jim Rassol/AP
    Law & Courts Florida Teachers Sue Over State Law Restricting Their Pronoun Use
    The teachers seek to overturn the measure, which prohibits them from using gender-neutral honorifics or pronouns that don't match their sex at birth.
    Madeline Will, December 18, 2023
    5 min read
    Bloomfield High School transgender athlete Terry Miller, second from left, wins the final of the 55-meter dash over transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood, far left, and other runners in the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn on Feb. 7, 2019.
    Bloomfield High School transgender athlete Terry Miller, second from left, wins the final of the 55-meter dash over transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood, far left, and other runners in the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn., on Feb. 7, 2019.
    Pat Eaton-Robb/AP
    Law & Courts Lawsuit Over a Transgender School Sports Policy Revived by Federal Appeals Court
    The 2nd Circuit court stressed that it was not deciding the underlying issue in the case of whether Title IX bars such a policy.
    Mark Walsh, December 15, 2023
    3 min read
    Photograph of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington DC, USA.
    E+/Getty
    Law & Courts How a Supreme Court Case on Job Transfers Will Impact Schools
    The justices consider whether workers alleging employment discrimination must show that a lateral job transfer harmed them.
    Mark Walsh, December 6, 2023
    8 min read
    Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) vice president Betsy Kippers leads a chant during a rally to protest Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill, at the Brown County Courthouse in downtown Green Bay on February 16, 2011.
    Betsy Kippers, vice president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, leads a chant during a rally to protest Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, at the Brown County Courthouse in downtown Green Bay on February 16, 2011.
    H. Marc Larson/The Green Bay Press-Gazette via AP
    Law & Courts Wisconsin Teachers Sue to Restore Collective Bargaining Rights
    The lawsuit takes fresh aim at a 2011 law that severely restricted bargaining, and has survived several legal challenges since.
    Madeline Will, December 1, 2023
    6 min read