On May 5, the Supreme Court affirmed that “legislative prayer” is permissible under the First Amendment. The decision is unlikely to change the rules for school districts. The Township of Greece, located outside of Rochester, has since 1999 opened its monthly meetings with a roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer led by a local clergy member. Prior to that time, the meetings were opened … [Read more...] about United States Supreme Court Allows Township to Open Meetings with Prayer
This Just In from the Department of Labor: Same-Sex Spouses May Have Full FMLA Rights
The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) requires covered employers to provide unpaid leave and reinstatement rights to eligible employees for specific health and family reasons, including family medical and military leave. Among other things, the serious health condition, military care needs, or military exigencies of an employee’s “spouse” may be a qualifying event for FMLA leave and reinstatement … [Read more...] about This Just In from the Department of Labor: Same-Sex Spouses May Have Full FMLA Rights
The Freundian Slip: The Farmers and the Cowmen, Vol. 2
We discussed in FS 5 ("What's the Beef?") that charters and traditional public schools should work to find common ground. Charter schools and traditional public schools can join together to celebrate the closure of a school found by a court to have violated the Constitution and state laws. As is our mantra, excellence in education is the ground on which both stand. Converting low performing … [Read more...] about The Freundian Slip: The Farmers and the Cowmen, Vol. 2
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Validates Charter School Enrollment Caps
On May 27, 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that an enrollment cap on a charter school is valid if agreed to by the parties as part of a written charter. In arriving at its holding in The School District of Philadelphia v. Department of Education and The Walter D. Palmer Leadership Partners Charter School, the Supreme Court interpreted the applicability of a 2008 revision to the Charter … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania Supreme Court Validates Charter School Enrollment Caps
The Freundian: Slip What The Dickens!?!?!
In a case that calls up Dickens’ novels exposing the conditions for children in Victorian England, an arbitrator recently returned a teacher to the classroom whose practices seem taken right off the pages of Oliver Twist. The school dismissed the teacher. However, an arbitrator returned the teacher to the classroom despite the fact that the teacher was found to have: Called students loser, … [Read more...] about The Freundian: Slip What The Dickens!?!?!
Would a Sperm Donor Agreement Have Made a Difference in Jason Patric’s Quest To Be Recognized as a Father?
Just last week, Jason Patric won an appeal that a Los Angeles Court of Appeals handed down in his fight to establish and maintain rights of his four year old son, Gus. The actor fathered Gus with a former girlfriend who conceived the child through in-vitro fertilization. Although the actor never signed a birth certificate, the court heard testimony that he did sign forms at the IVF Clinic as an … [Read more...] about Would a Sperm Donor Agreement Have Made a Difference in Jason Patric’s Quest To Be Recognized as a Father?
