Chapter 11 - Legal Framework For The Public Schools

This chapter was pretty much exactly what the title says it is. It talks mostly about the different laws and what is legal/illegal when it comes to education. The federal government has no say in education, as it is reserved to the States to do so. The federal court system consists of three levels of courts of general jurisdiction: a supreme court, district courts, and courts of appeals. What I found most interesting is that there are thirteen different circuit courts. Twelve of those thirteen have jurisdiction over a specific geographic area, where as the thirteenth has jurisdiction to hear appeals in specific areas of federal law, called the Federal Circuit. A big controversy in education is the religious aspect, more so the religious activities in public schools. Some example of religious activities are: prayer and bible reading, prayer at school-sponsored events, the pledge of allegiance, religion displays and observances, wearing of religious attire, distribution of religious literature, religious access to school buildings and released time for religious instruction. Attendance at school is mandatory between the ages of 7 to 16, whether it is a private school, public school, or home schooled. A fact in this chapter that I found very interesting was the one about homeschooling, and how much it has grown over the years. In 1994, 600,000 children were home schooled, compared to 1.1 million in 2003.

~DaNo~