This post was authored by Alysha Stein-Manes and Jenny Denny
On October 15, 2017 Governor Brown vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 169, a bill that would have codified into state law federal Title IX regulations and recently-repealed guidance on sexual assault …
This post was authored by Laura Schulkind and Jenny Denny
On September 7, 2017, United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School to discuss problems with the current Title IX enforcement system …
In December 2016, shortly after the November 8 presidential election, members of the California Legislature introduced for consideration a series of bills addressing immigration enforcement. Within the series, three bills would place limitations on a public agency’s ability to participate …
One of the most contentious issues in higher education continues to be how to punish and deter student-to-student sexual assault, protect students and assault survivors, and at the same time fully honor the legal rights of all concerned. Title IX …
This post was authored by Kristin D. Lindgren
Background
On June 10, 2014, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore reported on the Superior Court decision in Vergara v. State of California. The plaintiffs had alleged that teacher tenure, dismissal and layoff statutes …
An unprecedented number of protests – at educational institutions and in city streets – occurred nationwide last year, and protests continue to serve as focal points for public attention and debate going into 2016. The legal realm concerning free speech …
This post was authored by Liara Silva and Alysha Stein-Manes
Last month, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision in Caldecott v. Superior Court (2015), finding that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District (“District”) was obligated under the California …
Last week, President Obama signed the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA” or the “Act”) into law. The Act reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”). A bipartisan compromise bill, ESSA supersedes the controversial No Child Left …
Over the past several years, mainstream media has become increasingly fixated on issues of sexual violence on college campuses, with major state universities like the University of Montana, Michigan State University, the University of Virginia (UVA), and the University …
This blog post was authored by Stephanie Lowe and Alysha Stein-Manes
On Tuesday, June 30, 2015, Governor Brown signed into law a bill designed to require that California schoolchildren are fully vaccinated, regardless of their parents’ personal or religious beliefs. …
On June 30, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear an appeal in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association to answer the question of whether compulsory “agency shop” fees violate the First Amendment. An “agency shop” arrangement …
In September 2012, Fresno USD’s governing board adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of lease-leaseback construction contracts without competitive bidding.
The lease-leaseback structure permits builder-financed construction. A school district leases real estate it owns to a construction firm for $1.00 …
In recent months, partially in reaction to several investigations initiated by the U.S. Department of Education’s (“DOE”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), the news media has drawn attention to the prevalence of sexual violence on college campuses and scrutinized administrative …
It has been 50 years since the Free Speech Movement began at UC Berkeley in 1964, and approximately 40-50 years since near-riotous conditions overwhelmed college campuses in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. In our own time, it is about …
This blog post is authored by Michael Youril
Every employer who has employees covered by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (“CalSTRS”) is aware of the massive funding gap for the CalSTRS pension fund, and the need to stabilize funding …
This blog post was authored by Sharde C. Thomas.
On June 10, 2014, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued a decision holding California’s teacher tenure protections unconstitutional in the case of Vergara v. California, Case No. BC484642. …
Many student discipline matters in public schools involve speech, be it joking threats by the student, outrageous bullying on social media, epithets or hate speech, or clothing containing messages or symbols that violate school rules. Because they involve speech, these …
This blog post was authored by Steven Tang.
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that state voters may choose to prohibit the consideration of race in governmental decisions, in particular with respect to public school admissions. The decision came …
On January 17, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the free speech retaliation case of Edward Lane. Lane, a former employee of the Central Alabama Community College District, alleged in federal court that he lost his job because …
This blog post was authored by Heather DeBlanc
As of January 1, 2014, school and community college district governing boards will be required to competitively bid and award any of the following contracts involving an expenditure of more than $84,100…
The year 2014 will bring important developments in a number of areas of free speech law in employment and education. The following are five primary areas worth following in the next 12 months:
1. Anti-SLAPP Motions Creatively Invoked by Public …
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the last several weeks decided two important First Amendment cases – Dahlia v. Rodriguez on the rights of peace officers, and Wynar v. Douglas County on the rights of students …
This blog entry was authored by Hengameh S. Safaei
In a case of first impression, K.M. v. Tustin Unified School District, the Ninth Circuit held that a public school district’s compliance with its obligations to a deaf or …
This blog post was authored by Shardé C. Thomas
On August 29, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Wynar v. Douglas County School District that a school can discipline a student in response to …