Americans are a highly litigious people. This attitude is not a recent de-

velopment; well over one hundred years ago, a sensitive French visitor,

Alexis de Tocqueville, observed that in the United States of America all

issues become "sooner or later a subject of judicial debate."

Today s schools exist and function in the midst of a complex legal

environment, and it is difficult not to be aware of a wide range of legal

issues that influence the lives of teachers, students, parents, and admin-

istrators. It is increasingly clear that educators ignore the law at their

own peril! In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that teachers

and administrators may be held personally liable in money damages for

violating students clearly established constitutional rights.

This book is about teachers and the law that affects them, law estab-

lished by state and federal statutes, constitutions, and court decisions.

This law will have little significance, however, unless educators know

about it and are willing to make the effort to see that it is carried out.

It is not the purpose of this book to encourage teachers to go to court.

On the contrary, its goal is to help resolve educational conflicts without

going to lawyers or resorting to courts. How? By helping teachers b~-

come legally literate--by providing them with information about the law

that affects them, about the way the legal system works, and about the

way this system can work for them in the public school. With this in-

formation, teachers can practice "preventive law." This does not mean

that they will be able to be their own lawyers but rather that they will

know their legal rights and responsibilities and will assume responsibil-

ity for educating other members of the school community about the law.

Underlying this premise is our belief that unlawful school practices are

generally not intentional but result from a misunderstanding of the law.

Because most school officials are anxious to avoid lawsuits, when teach-

ers are able to show that certain school policies are illegal, administrators

usually prefer to change them voluntarily rather than as the result of a

court order. In addition, we believe that students educational experi-

ences will be improved when all members of the school community dis-

play behavior that is consistent with basic constitutional principles such

as due process of law.

Why are educators so poorly informed about the law that affects

schools.~The answer may he in the fact that much of this law did not