Chalk and Gavel: An Education Law Podcast

Can a state authorize a religious virtual charter school? Where is the line between the religious liberties of individuals and prohibitions on the government establishing a religion? Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feeling everything's Oklahoma today! In this episode, we’re talking about a recent case that made waves in Oklahoma. An application...

How and when should schools distinguish between teenage banter and offensive language? How does extensive media attention impact the handling of sensitive incidents in schools? In this episode, we tackle a case that you might have heard about. The story went viral and sent shockwaves through a Kansas City community. This is the case of Plaintiff A v Park Hill School District. You might know it as...

What privacy rights do students have during virtual instruction? How should schools enforce school rules in the remote classroom? What happens when Big Brother thinks, "You’ll shoot your eye out"? That's right; this case involves a Red Ryder BB gun and a 5th-grade student (who is probably not named Ralphie). In this episode, we explore the intersection of privacy and technology with the case of La...

When can parents be criminally prosecuted for failing to send their kids to school? What role do teachers and administrators play in addressing school non-attendance and truancy? In this episode, we’re cutting class to dive into the murky waters of student absenteeism with the case of the State of Missouri v. Williams. While truancy cases don’t really grab the headlines like student protests (or t...

When are student sit-ins protected by the First Amendment? How can coaches maintain team cohesion and discipline without becoming draconian? Why is it always the cheer squad? In this episode, we tackle the case of Gonzales v. Burley High School, a fascinating case involving a new cheer coach and some very displeased cheerleaders. This one is pretty wild. It has to do with students being punished f...

When can schools be held legally responsible for failing to address student sexual harassment? What's in the Biden Administration's new Title IX regulations? In this special themed episode, we talk about all things Title IX! For our bellringer, we talk about the new Title IX regs and how they increase protections for LGBTQ+ individuals as well as streamline investigations of sex discrimina...

What is an 'appropriate' education for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act? How many acronyms are too many acronyms? In this episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Janet Decker, a school law professor and expert in special education law, to discuss Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. This case raised the bar for when an IEP provid...

When can schools curtail students' political speech? Can a student be paddled for simply writing "Trump 2016" on a classroom whiteboard? We discuss T.S. v. Talladega County Board of Education, a fascinating case about a school navigating the political tensions following the 2016 presidential election. This one has it all! Politics, free speech, discipline, corporal punishment, and, o...

When can school officials search students' belongings? In this episode, we branch out into the world of true crime! We go back to the early 80s to discuss the landmark Supreme Court case that defined the boundaries of privacy and authority in schools. We discuss New Jersey v. TLO, a delinquency case involving a search of a 14-year-old freshman's purse that continues to influence how we bal...

How can a school district seek to achieve a diverse student body at its elite magnet school? We discuss the case of Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board, another case in the evolving legal battle over race-conscious admissions and the pursuit of diversity in school admissions. At issue in this case was whether the Board's race-neutral admissions policy violated the Equal Protection...

When are schools legally responsible for student injuries? What responsibilities do teachers have to keep kids from getting hurt in the classroom? Middle schoolers and scalpels, what could go wrong? We discuss the case of Heuser v. Community Insurance Corporation, a Wisconsin state court case involving (you guessed it) a middle school student who cut himself with a scalpel during a science lab. We...

Do parents have the right to opt their children out of a curriculum they find objectionable? We discuss the case of Mahmoud v. McKnight, a complicated case that weighs a district's choice to adopt books inclusive of LGBTQ characters against parental rights to opt their children out of such content. We also talk about a recent wave of litigation where school districts are suing social media com...

Does a high school football coach have a First Amendment right to engage in a private moment of prayer after a football game? What about a not-so-quiet, not-so-private, religiously infused post-game speech given directly to players on the 50-yard line? How should schools navigate the relationship between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment? In Part 2, we co...

Does a high school football coach have a First Amendment right to engage in a private moment of prayer after a football game? What about a not-so-quiet, not-so-private, religiously infused post-game speech given directly to players on the 50-yard line? How should schools navigate the relationship between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment? We're joined...

Can a student be subjected to a mandatory one-year expulsion for a knife he didn't even know he had? We discuss Seal v. Morgan, a case that deals with the constitutionality of zero-tolerance policies and how to balance students' rights with the safe and orderly operation of schools. We also talk about a recent case out of Iowa that struck down a curricular gag order on LGBTQ+ content in th...

Is there a fundamental constitutional right to education under the U.S. Constitution? Does a state's school funding system violate the Constitution when it results in stark inequalities between districts? We discuss the seminal Supreme Court case of San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, which analyzed the constitutionality of Texas's inequitable funding system that relied h...

Does a drama teacher have a First Amendment right to choose a play for her students to perform? We discuss Boring v. Buncomb County Board of Education, a case that deals with teachers' academic freedom and the question of who has the authority to make curricular decisions in public schools. We also discuss the newly released 2020-2021 Civil Rights Data Collection from the U.S. Department of Ed...

Happy holidays! In Chalk & Gavel's first "Sidebar," Supreme Court Education Reporter Mark Walsh joins Chris and Jamie to discuss the Court and its role in shaping education. We'll discuss the inner workings of the Court, recent cases related to education, and what to watch for in the near future.

When can a school search a student's cell phone? How can schools manage disuptive, inappropriate, or excessive parental involvement? We discuss Jackson v. McCurry, a case about the fallout from a school principal's search of a student's cell phone.

Can a school enforce its policy that forbids students from intentionally misgendering others? We discuss the case of Parents Defending Education v. Olentangy Local School District, a timely case that addresses the interplay of transgender students' rights and antidiscrimination law with students' free speech rights. ***The original title of this episode included the phrase "preferred...

When can schools discipline students for their off-campus speech? We discuss the recent Supreme Court case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., a case with a very familiar situation: a student used social media (and expletives) to express her frustrations about school.

Can attempts at humor support a teacher's termination? We discuss Sheldon Community School District v. Lundblad, a teacher dismissal case based on the teacher's misguided comments to students. We also chat about a situation involving a principal who changed athletes' grades and the high proportion of school board candidates who run unopposed.

Are charter schools bound by the U.S. Constitution? Does a charter school dress code that requires girls to wear skirts violate the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX? We discuss Peltier v. Charter Day School, a dress code case with significant implications for the school choice movement.

Coming October 24!