The School Law Handbook: What Every Leader Needs to Know

A parent objects to a curriculum that includes a unit on Greek gods, arguing that it violates the separation of church and state. As a teacher or administrator, how should you respond? This type of issue is one most educators will have to confront eventually, in addition to other hot-button issues such as zero-tolerance policies, drug and alcohol testing, and prayer in schools. The School Law Handbook is designed to enable educators to confront such issues with information, insight, and initiative.

The issues are organized into five areas: the school environment, Constitutional issues, students, personnel, and accountability. Within each area are several chapters, each beginning with a realistic scenario followed by legal and practical analyses of the situation. Armed with this knowledge of the parameters governing each scenario, educators can more effectively manage their responses, asking and answering the key questions:
* What are the legal boundaries?
* What is the district policy related to this issue?
* What are the potential strategies for resolution?

In this era of unparalleled public scrutiny, The School Law Handbook is essential reading for all school personnel.

Bill Bosher is Executive Director of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute and Dean of the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Kate R. Kaminski is an attorney in the field of education law and the Director of Legal and Policy Services for the Virginia School Boards Association. Richard S. Vacca is Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University.