This readable introduction to American public education law is designed to assist practicing educators, college and graduate students, parents, and the public in acting on everyday legal issues such as student expression, church/state separation, student and teacher discipline, curriculum, legislating and lobbying, parent associations, discrimination, special education, No Child Left Behind, student privacy, and more. Unique features include practical situations, the «Facts and Find» research method, and the «Cascade» approach to understanding the American legal system.
Superintendents, central office administrators, principals, school board members and students in the field of education will find this book to be useful in guiding their own professional development and practice. The authors cover a variety of useful topics in special education, ranging from finances, how to systematically monitor the assignment of paraprofessionals, and transportation, to legal considerations and methods of promoting parent engagement. Co-editors Bittel and Young invited seasoned educators and professionals to share their expertise in a wide range of important subjects that collectively promote an understanding of how to transform special education programs and service delivery in public school settings. Chapter topics were intentionally selected to address the common special education program challenges facing school superintendents; and the focus throughout this book was on providing practical suggestions to improve actual practice. As such, current and aspiring educational leaders and policy-makers who are interested in learning more about how to successfully tackle some of the more complex challenges in special education while find this book to be an invaluable resource.
This new book offers an approachable user's guide to both the spirit and the letter of the law underlying the U.S. legal system. It provides explanations and examples of most of the concepts covered in law schools explained in plain English, with minimum use of jargon. It also offers copies of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. It's perfect for anyone who wishes a concise and approachable guide to the U.S. Legal system.
This concise text is a reader friendly primer to the fundamentals of administrative responsibility and ethics. Your students will come away with a clear understanding of why ethics are important to administrators in governmental and non-profit organizations, and how these administrators can relate their own personal values to the norms of the public sector. Since the publication of the first edition of The Ethics Primer, there has been significant change in the climate of public affairs that impacts the discussion of ethics for those who serve the public in governmental and nonprofit organizations. The new edition reflects those changes in three major areas: • Ethics in an era of increasing tension between political leaders and administrators over the role and size of government. • Ethical choices in making fiscal cuts or imposing new taxes in the face of the greatest economic crisis since the Depression. • Ethical challenges to established practices in public organizations. The Second Edition also offers thoroughly updated data and sources throughout, as well as examples that incorporate new research and new developments in government and politics. The Second Edition of The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations: • Introduces readers to the fundamentals of administrative responsibility and provides comprehensive coverage of the important elements of ethics. • Features an accessible and interactive approach to maximize understanding of the subject. • Includes information on the nature of public service and the ethical expectations of public administrators, as well factors that may lead to unethical behavior. • Written from a political perspective, the book addresses questions that are highly salient to persons working in government and nonprofits. • Offers helpful ways to link ethics and management in order to strengthen the ethical climate in a public organization.
The primary purpose of this document is to help state & local education agencies & schools develop adequate policies & procedures to protect information about students & their families from improper release, while satisfying the need for school officials to make sound management, instructional, & service decisions. Sections include: a primer for privacy; summary of key federal laws; protecting the privacy of individuals during the data collection process; securing the privacy of data maintained & used within an agency; providing parents access to their child's records; & releasing information outside an agency. 5 appendices.
The definitive reckoning with one of America’s most explosively contentious and divisive issues—from “one of our most important and perceptive writers on race and the law.... The mere fact that he wrote this book is all the justification necessary for reading it.”—The Washington Post What precisely is affirmative action, and why is it fiercely championed by some and just as fiercely denounced by others? Does it signify a boon or a stigma? Or is it simply reverse discrimination? What are its benefits and costs to American society? What are the exact indicia determining who should or should not be accorded affirmative action? When should affirmative action end, if it must? Randall Kennedy gives us a concise and deeply personal overview of the policy, refusing to shy away from the myriad complexities of an issue that continues to bedevil American race relations.
"This book will offer initial guidance to dedicated practitioners, both in-house and from outside law firms, who provide legal services to cannabis businesses or to businesses that are considering entering the cannabis industry"--
This book bridges the disciplines of legal studies and sociology in its engaging introduction to the history, purpose, function, and influence of the Supreme Court, demonstrating through ten landmark decisions the Court's impact on the five key sociological institutions in the U.S.: Family, Education, Religion, Government, and Economy. It gives an insightful picture of how these major decisions have additionally affected other sociological categories such as gender, sexual orientation, race, class/inequality, and deviance. The reader not only gains familiarity with foundational concepts in both sociology and constitutional law, but is given tools to decipher the legal language of Supreme Court decisions through non-intimidating abridgments of those decisions, enhancing their critical literacy. This book demonstrates the direct applicability of the Supreme Court to the lives of Americans and how landmark decisions have far-reaching repercussions that affect all of us at the most quotidian level. The Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on U.S. Institutions is essential reading for undergraduate students in social science courses as well as others working interested in the workings of the justice system.
In each of the first three editions of the bestselling Law 101, Jay Feinman gave readers an upbeat and vivid examination of the American legal system. Since the third edition was published in 2010, much has happened: several key Supreme Court cases have been decided, we've seen sensational criminal trials, and the legal system has had to account for the latest developments in Internet law. This fully updated fourth edition of Law 101 accounts for all this and more, as Feinman once again provides a clear introduction to American law. The book covers all the main subjects taught in the first year of law school, and discusses every facet of the American legal tradition, including constitutional law, the litigation process, and criminal, property, and contracts law. To accomplish this, Feinman brings in the most noteworthy, infamous, and often outrageous examples and cases. We learn about the case involving scalding coffee that cost McDonald's half a million dollars, the murder trial in Victorian London that gave us the legal definition of insanity, and the epochal decision of Marbury vs. Madison that gave the Supreme Court the power to declare state and federal law unconstitutional. A key to learning about the law is learning legal vocabulary, and Feinman helps by clarifying terms like "due process" and "equal protection," as well as by drawing distinctions between terms like "murder" and "manslaughter." Above all, though, is that Feinman reveals to readers of all kinds that despite its complexities and quirks, the law is can be understood by everyone. Perfect for students contemplating law school, journalists covering legislature, or even casual fans of "court-television" shows, Law 101 is a clear and accessible introduction to the American legal system. New to this edition: Featured analysis of: -the Obamacare case -Citizens United -the DOMA decision -the Trayvon Martin case As well as recent legal developments pertaining to: -online contracting -mortgages -police investigations -criminal sentencing
