Law and Public Education: POLSC 217.45-01
Instructor: Professor Leora Harpaz
Class Meetings: Tuesday/Friday 12:45-2 p.m., Room W208
Office: W1730A (Adjunct Faculty Office)
Professor’s Website: www.lharpaz.com
Course Webpage: www.lharpaz.com/edulaw/edulaw.html
Law and Public Education
Syllabus Fall 2019
Course Description:
This course focuses on legal issues in public education. Topics will include student free speech rights both in school and on social media, the constitutionality of student dress codes, integration of the public schools, searches of student lockers and other personal belongings, prayer in the schools, religious exemptions from mandatory immunizations, due process limits on student discipline, and constitutional issues concerning school funding and access to education.
Required Reading:
The reading material has all been prepared by the instructor as a textbook (coursepack) which is available at Shakespeare & Co. Please make sure to bring the textbook with you to class. The readings consists of introductory material for each subject covered in the course followed by heavily edited versions of court opinions. For students who have not read court opinions before, a short description of the process, Reading A Judicial Opinion, is available on the course website.
Reading for First Four Assignments:
Because some students in the class may not be able to obtain the textbook in time to read the first four assignments, I have prepared PDFs of these assignments. The first two assignments are available here: First Two Assignments. The second two assignments will be circulated to members of the class as an attachment to an email.
Classroom Material:
All Classroom Material prepared for use in class in connection with a reading assignment will be posted on the course website and remain available throughout the semester.
Optional Reading Material:
In addition to the assigned reading, I have prepared a list of links to material related to each chapter of the required reading as well as some additional categories of links. This list of Optional Class Material is available on the course website and will be updated frequently.
Office Hours:
I will be available to meet with students after class on both Tuesday and Friday in Room W1730A (Adjunct Faculty Office) (down the hall from the Political Science Department Office). However, I would appreciate it if you would let me know if you want to meet with me on a particular day either by email or by telling me before or after class. That way I will make sure to return to my office on the 17th floor after class as soon as the elevators allow. To meet with me at other times, please contact me so we can arrange for a mutually convenient time.
Questions Before Class:
In connection with each reading assignment, there are posted Questions Before Class that you should, as the title states, attempt to answer before class as part of your class preparation. These questions are designed to help you prepare for class discussion by focusing on relevant facts and legal analysis. While the actual discussion in class will range beyond the Questions Before Class, they should nevertheless help you to engage in that discussion. This list is available on the course website and will be updated so that questions for particular reading assignments are available at least several classes in advance.
Assignments:
Each numbered assignment represents the reading for a single class. However, if we do not complete our discussion of the assigned material, we will complete it in the next class before beginning the next assignment. Until we fall one complete assignment behind, you should read the next assignment to prepare for class. Please make sure to bring the textbook with you to class.
Chapter One - Free Speech Rights of Students
1. Pages 1-12 (Introduction, Tinker and Fraser)
2. Pages 12-27 (Kuhlmeier and Morse)
3. Pages 27-41 (Starting with Section B) (True Threats: D.J.M. and Cuff)
4. Pages 41-51 (Confederate Flag and Tinker vs. Fraser: Hardwick, Broussard, and Guiles)
5. Pages 51-65 (Off-Campus Student Speech: Doninger and Layshock)
6. Pages 65-78 (School Uniform Policies: Canady, Lowry, Frudden, and Pyle)
Chapter Two - Equal Protection and Public School Education
7. Pages 79-91 (Introduction, Racial Classifications: Brown, Grutter, and Gratz)
8. Pages 91-103 (Racial Classifications: Parents Involved in Community Schools)
9. Pages 103-118 (Gender Discrimination: United States v. Virginia, A.N.A., and Doe)
10. Pages 118-132 (Undocumented Children, Bona Fide Residents, and Classifications Based on Wealth: Plyler, Martinez, Rodriguez, and Kadrmas)
Chapter Three - The Fourth Amendment in the Public Schools
11. Pages 133-148 (Introduction, T.L.O., and Redding)
12. Pages 148-162 (Acton, Earls, and Additional Situations)
Chapter Four - Religion and the Public School: The Establishment Clause
13. Pages 163-178 (Introduction, Released Time Religious Education: McCollum and Zorach, School Prayer, and Bible Reading: Engel and Schempp)
14. Pages 178-191 (The Ten Commandments: Stone and Moment of Silence: Wallace)
15. Pages 191-212 (School Prayer: Weisman and Doe)
16. Pages 212-226 (Pledge of Allegiance: Newdow and Public School Curriculum: Epperson and Edwards)
17: Pages 227- 246 (Equal Access Act: Mergens and Use of School Facilities: Lamb’s Chapel and Good News Club
Chapter Five - Religion and the Public School: The Free Exercise Clause
18. Pages 247-259 (Introduction, Compulsory School Attendance: Yoder, and Clothing: Griffith)
19. Pages 259- 276 (Hairstyle: A.A. ex rel. Betenbaugh and Vaccination Requirements: Workman and Phillips)
20. Pages 276-292 (Curriculum: Parker and Combs)
Chapter Six - Teacher Free Speech Rights
21. Pages 293-306 (Introduction, Weintraub, Mayer, and Spanierman)
Chapter Seven - Procedural and Substantive Due Process
22. Pages 307-319 (Introduction, Goss v. Lopez, and C.Y. v. Lakeview Public Schools)
23. Pages 319-335 (Introduction to Corporal Punishment, Ingraham v. Wright, Garcia v. Miera, and Payne v. Peninsula School District)
Attendance:
Attendance will be taken by students initialing an attendance sheet. It will be circulated at the beginning of class. If you arrive late, it will be your responsibility to make sure you sign the attendance sheet before you leave class in order to be marked present for that day’s class. Students are required to attend class on a regular basis. Students should limit missing class to illness and family or other emergencies. Class attendance and classroom participation will count for 10% of the course grade.
Class Participation:
Students are required to participate in class discussions. Answering the Questions Before Class described above as part of your class preparation will help you to be ready to discuss the assigned cases in class. Class participation will be taken into account in grading as described below.
Grading:
There will be one writing assignment and two exams during the course of the semester. The writing assignment will count for 20% of the course grade and each of the two exams will count for 35% of the final grade. The remaining 10% will be based on a combination of class attendance and classroom participation. No student will get a passing grade in the course if they fail to turn in the writing assignment and the two exams. Both exams will be take-home exams. There will be no in-class exams. During the semester, I will use a numerical grading system for each individual component of the final grade. The appropriate percentage of each individual grade will be added together to create a final numerical grade. These final grades will then be converted to the letter grading system used for submitting grades.
Exams:
The midterm and final exam will both be take-home exams. You will have at least one week to complete each exam. The exams will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions and essay questions. The majority of the multiple choice questions will require that you identify the reasoning in a specific court decision. Essay questions will provide you with a set of facts that are similar to, but not identical to, cases that you have read. The set of facts will result in the filing of a lawsuit. Your answer to the question will require you to make legal arguments that the parties in the case could present to a court to support their position. The answers to the two exams, including both the multiple choice and essay questions, are to be your own work. Collaborating with someone else is not permitted.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will learn to understand judicial opinions that analyze legal issues that arise in the public school context including free speech rights of students and teachers, equal protection, search and seizure, separation of church and state, freedom of religion, and procedural and substantive due process rights. You will learn to identify and understand the legal standards or tests used in court opinions to resolve legal disputes in these areas and apply those standards to a variety of different factual situations. You will examine how the courts balance the rights of individual students and teachers against the interests of the school administration in maintaining order, creating an appropriate learning environment, and protecting the rights of all students and faculty members and consider whether the courts are striking the correct balance.
Credit/No Credit Option:
It is Hunter College policy that Credit/No Credit may be requested by the student up until the final examination (or date of the final assignment); however "Students requesting grading according to this system must satisfy whatever attendance requirement has been set by the instructor, complete all the assignments and take the final examination. For this class, you must have taken the midterm and final examinations, turned in all required written exercises and attended class on a regular basis.
Academic Integrity:
Hunter College's policy on Academic Integrity is as follows: "Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures."
Ethical Guidelines:
In addition to Hunter College’s policy on Academic Integrity included above, the work in this course, including all graded papers and exams, is to be your own work. Collaborating with someone else is not permitted.
ADA Policy:
In compliance with the ADA and with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Hunter College is committed to ensuring educational access and accommodations for all its registered students. Hunter College’s students with disabilities and medical conditions are encouraged to register with the Office of AccessABILITY for assistance and accommodation. For information and appointment contact the Office of AccessABILITY located in Room E1214 or call (212) 772- 4857 and/or VRS (646) 755-3129.