Education


Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Minnesota Teachers Union…

District Judge Margaret Marrinan ruled late Wednesday that the case against Gov. Mark Dayton, state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, St. Paul Public Schools and three other districts did not show Minnesota’s teachers union protections were directly connected to the academic achievement gap or students of color receiving ineffective teachers. Marrinan’s ruling said the issues raised by …


Judge Rejects Challenge to Minnesota Teacher Tenure Laws

A Ramsey County judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging Minnesota teacher tenure laws, rejecting its arguments that the laws protect ineffective teachers and deprive low-income and minority students of a high-quality education. The suit, filed in April by national and local education reform groups, argued that state laws shield veteran teachers from layoffs even when they perform …


ACLU Files Lawsuit in Flint Michigan Over Children’s Education

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan [advocacy website] filed a class-action lawsuit [complaint, PDF; fact sheet , PDF] Monday regarding children’s education in relation to the Flint water crisis. The plaintiffs include 15 Flint families who allege that the Michigan Department of Education, Flint Community Schools and Genesee Intermediate School District failed to protect …


Lawsuit Alleges Flint Schools Are Failing to Provide Services to Lead-Poisoned Children

Nakeyja Cade bathes her three children in bottled water after her 1-year-old daughter Zariyah Cade (center left) had a blood test scoring high in lead content in Flint, Mich. on March 1, 2016. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) Public officials failed children in Flint, Mich., by allowing the city’s supply of drinking water to remain contaminated with lead, a known neurotoxin, for …


Connecticut’s School Funding Lawsuit Headed to State Supreme Court

After a Connecticut judge called his state’s school funding system “irrational” and “unconstitutional,” an eleven-year-old school funding lawsuit is now headed to the state supreme court for final adjudication. In 2005, a coalition made up of municipalities, parents and education advocacy groups and calling itself the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding filed a lawsuit …


Court Throws Out California Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit

On Monday Northern California Judge Barry Goode denied the claims in the Doe v. Antioch Unified lawsuit – the second legal setback in recent months to education advocates who believe ineffective teacher have too many job protections. Lawyers who filed the suit on behalf of the parents of school children and California taxpayers claimed that the 13 districts, including seven in Southern …


Learning Conditions in Detroit Schools Violate US Constitution

Learning conditions in many Detroit schools are so bad, they violate students’ basic rights under the U.S. Constitution. That’s what a new federal lawsuit contends. It was filed on behalf of students at five of the lowest-performing Detroit schools, including one charter school.


Detroit Schoolchildren Denied Right to Literacy

Seven Detroit schoolchildren, represented by a California public interest law firm, sued state officials Tuesday in what attorneys say is an unprecedented attempt to establish that literacy is a U.S. constitutional right. The suit, brought against Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and several education officials, claims the state has …


Is It OK to Segregate Students With Disabilities? Separate Springfield and Georgia Cases Race to Decide

In August the Department of Justice announced they were suing Georgia for “unnecessarily segregating students with disabilities.” A similar lawsuit has been going on in Springfield since 2014. On June 27, 2014, a parent of a student at the Springfield Public Day School, a school specifically for children with disabilities, filed a federal class suit against the city of Springfield and the …