What does the Constitution say about how schools should navigate situations where a student and their parents disagree about the student’s gender identity? How can schools promote the interests of LGBTQ students while also respecting parental rights? This is a tricky subject, and it often puts schools in a sticky situation. Which is why we’re doing this podcast, right? To help educators un-stick themselves as much as possible. Today's case illustrates a constantly changing and hotly debated legal landscape: the balance of parental rights, the rights and interests of LGBTQ students, and the authority of schools to promote what they may think is "in the best interests of the student." Trying to balance these complex issues often puts schools between a rock and a hard place. Today, we’re diving into Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County, a case involving a parental challenge to a support plan that the school created for their transgender child. We also discuss an update to a lawsuit challenging Iowa's recent curricular gag order.

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Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ⁠ChalkandGavel.com⁠.

We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel⁠

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Keywords: LGBTQ Students' Rights, Parental Rights, Transgender Students, Support Plans, Fourteenth Amendment, Substantive Due Process, Qualified Immunity, Curriculum, First Amendment

Do students have First Amendment rights to avoid potentially controversial school assignments and activities? When does a school assignment cross the line between legitimate educational activity and being inappropriate? Today’s case is about a Las Vegas high school drama teacher who “rolled the dice” and asked students to write a monologue and have it performed in front of the class. But here's the twist, the teacher asked students to randomly pick another student’s monologue to perform, and as it turned out, one of those monologues was sexually explicit. Feeling compelled to complete the required activity, one student read that monologue, and things “flopped” from there. This is the 2024 case of Evans v Hawes. At the heart of this case is the question of whether or not students have a First Amendment right to avoid classroom activities based on their disagreement with the content. It's a fascinating case with a significant legal question. It sounds perfect for a Chalk & Gavel episode! We also discuss another recent selective admissions case out of Boston that is challenging a school's pursuit of diversity in its admissions process.

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Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ⁠ChalkandGavel.com⁠.

We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel⁠

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Keywords: First Amendment, Free Speech, Compelled Speech, School Assignments, Assault and Battery, Drama, Parents, School Board Meetings, Limited Public Forum, Selective Admissions, Diversity, Race Discrimination

Happy New Year! To celebrate, we've got something a little different for you! We've gone live to kick off the Education Law Association's 2024 Annual Conference. This is "Not Your Typical Ed Law Update!" We're thrilled to be joined by Tiffany Puckett and Suzanne Eckes to share some interesting, wild, and unbelievable stories in education law. Whether it's a promposal gone wrong or sword fighting in the science classroom, these are the stories you need to hear to believe. As Suzanne says, "You can't make this [stuff] up!"

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Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ChalkandGavel.com.

We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel

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Keywords: Education Law Association 2024 Annual Conference, Promposals, Farm Animals and Education Law, Don't Put That In Writing, Pirates, 10 Commandments Creative Compliance, Let's Go Clubbing

What does Title IX require of schools to ensure equal athletic opportunities for the sexes? When do schools need to recognize student demand and create new athletic opportunities for female athletes? In today's episode, we’re taking the ice with another athletics case! This time, we’re skating our way through a Title IX claim involving some female athletes who were denied the opportunity to play hockey in their school-sanctioned club sports program. We’re going to dive into some of the intricacies of Title IX in the 2022 case of Brooks v State College Area School District. We also discuss a fascinating and troubling email sent out by the Oklahoma State Superintendant of Public Instruction announcing the creation of the Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism within the Oklahoma Department of Education. -- Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ChalkandGavel.com. We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel --- Keywords: Hockey, Female Athletics, Title IX, Sex Discrimination, Equal Opportunity, Preliminary Injunction, Oklahoma, Establishment Clause, Freedom of Consciousness

What First Amendment rights to free speech do students have in the elementary school classroom? How can schools teach the essential values of kindness, tolerance, and respect for others? In our first-ever live episode, recorded at the Education Law Association's Annual Conference in front of a "live studio" audience, we discuss B.B. v. Capistrano Unified School District. This is a recent case involving a first-grade student who, after a lesson about Martin Luther King Jr., gave a “Black Lives Matter” drawing to her friend and was disciplined by the school for including the phrase "any life" on the drawing. Listen in as we unpack some of the really interesting things the trial court had to say about the free speech rights of some of our youngest students. We also discuss an update on the Parents Defending Education v. Olentangy Local School District case that we covered in Episode 4. This is the case where the trial court declined to halt the enforcement of a school policy forbidding the intentional misgendering of transgender students. After a panel of the Sixth Circuit upheld the trial court's decision, the Sixth Circuit agreed to hear the case en banc, meaning that all sixteen active judges will now hear the case. -- We're building a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ChalkandGavel.com. We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel --- Keywords: Elementary Students, Free Speech, First Amendment, Black Lives Matter, Parental Engagement, Transgender Students, En Banc

When are schools legally responsible for student injuries during athletic activities? Where is the line between a creative drill and an unnecessary risk? Was the school out of bounds? It’s no slam dunk, but these cases might have you crying foul! Today's episode is a double-header! We’re heading down to the athletic department to talk about two cases where sports practices resulted in students getting injured. From a basketball drill gone wrong to an errant baseball throw, what happens when a school allegedly “drops the ball” with school safety? These are the cases of Secky v. New Paltz Central School District and Grady v. Chenango Valley Central School District. Game on! We also discuss a recent injunction that prevents Louisianna from implementing their new law that would have required all classrooms in the state to post the Ten Commandments. -- We're building a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ChalkandGavel.com. We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel --- Keywords: Torts, Negligence, Student Athletes, Assumption of Risk, Baseball, Basketball, Establishment Clause, Ten Commandments

What does the law say about the appropriate placement for students with disabilities? What happens when parents and schools disagree about a student’s IEP? Who's ready for more special education acronyms? We are because today we’re talking about when, under the IDEA, a PPT’s IEP, considering a student’s FBA and ATE, provides FAPE in the LRE. That’s right, we’re going to cover the interesting case of a young student with disabilities whose parents were not too pleased with his school’s determination of how much inclusion in the general education classroom was appropriate. This case wrestles with the messy intersection of parent, school, and student rights, namely how much say schools should have in determining the placement of students with disabilities. How much say should parents have? And how involved should the courts get? Who gets to decide? This is P. ex rel Mr. and Mrs. P. v Newington Board of Education, a case about the Least Restrictive Environment provision in the IDEA. We also discuss some recent Supreme Court updates, including two education related cases the court will not be hearing this term. -- We're building a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ChalkandGavel.com. We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us keep delivering the education law content you want to hear! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel --- Keywords: Students with Disabilities, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Least Restrictive Environment, Inclusion, Due Process

Can schools censor student speech that promotes illegal drug use? What authority do schools have to regulate student speech that contradicts the educational goals of the school? How do you celebrate your one-year anniversaries? In honor of Chalk and Gavel’s 1st anniversary, we’re going back about 20 years to cover a classic! This is a landmark Supreme Court case, Morse v Frederick… or as most of us call it, the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case! Stick around as we head up to Juneau, Alaska, as the 2002 Olympic torch heads through the town and high school students are allowed to go check it out as it passes. As it passed, and the TV news cameras rolled, high school senior Joseph Frederick and his friends held up a 14-foot banner that said, you guessed it, "Bong Hits for Jesus." We also discuss a new entry into the ongoing legal debate about increasing diversity at elite magnet schools. -- We're building a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ChalkandGavel.com. We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk and Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us keep delivering the education law content you want to hear! ⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel If you crave more education law content and want to meet other folks who share your passions, we encourage you to check out the Education Law Association! ELA's annual conference is coming up on November 6-9 in sunny Orlando, Florida. Find more information at https://www.educationlaw.org/ --- Keywords: Bong Hits 4 Jesus, First Amendment, Student Speech, Illegal Drugs, Fourteenth Amendment, Equal Protection, Diversity, School Admissions