This week the Norwalk Hour and the Connecticut Post published a ‘Connecticut Insider’ look at the problem of uncertified coaches for school sports teams. The Insider’s investigation had been spurred by a case Attorney Smith brought against the Weston Board of...
It was a big month for the United State Department of Education. Early in August federal courts cleared the way for the DOE's proposed reform of Title IX. The new regulations took effect on August 15. Action was overdue. Since Title IX’s passage in 1972 the...
In February, in Graham v. Friedlander, 334 Conn. 564 (2020), Connecticut's Supreme Court considered the state’s power over poor teaching. In the same opinion it weighed judges’ authority to throw out parents’ claims. It found both surprisingly limited. The plaintiffs...
For fifty years different parents have tried to get a court to say their children had a right to a better school. This month one group finally succeeded. A federal court ordered their schools to make their kids literate. The winning parents came from Detroit. The...
The long and winding road of Grimm v. Gloucester County Board of Education may yet lead back the Supreme Court. For the moment this case on the rights of one transgender student has stopped in Richmond, Virginia, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit....
Last month Chicago Public Schools agreed to change the way it handled complaints of sexual harassment in Chicago’s schools. It was forced into the agreement by the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. OCR enforces compliance with Title IX,...
Title IX bans sexual discrimination. The U.S. Department of Education enforces it. Last year the Department proposed new rules on sexual harassment in school and college and invited the public to comment. Secretary DeVos has yet to reveal the results. The public will...
Last week New York passed a new statute of limitations. It helps the victims of sexual abuse. They now have more time to bring a civil suit against their abuser. Under the old law victims had to sue by the time they were twenty-eight. Now they may sue until they are...
Last month Attorney Gregory Smith brought suit against the Weston Board of Education. His complaint alleges that a coach without a valid, current coaching permit supervised his clients’ son’s basketball practice. Another player on the Weston High School Boys’...
Last month a Superior Court decision reminded us that a “board of education” is not the same thing as a “school district.” This can be a crucial distinction in protecting students, teachers and staff. The ruling will end up costing someone more than embarrassment. The...