2002 Articles

Case notes By William Bradley Colwell & Chris Mattocks April 2002 On May 29, 2001, the United States Supreme Court further defined what constitutes a "prevailing party" under federal law for the purposes of collecting attorney fees.

Editors’ note By Phil Milsk & Lawrence Weiner November 2002 This issue of the Education Law Section newsletter features a timely and informative article on the No Child Left Behind Act, a complex and often confusing new federal law that school districts, teachers, parents and education policymakers will be trying to figure out for the foreseeable future

Editor’s note July 2002 This issue of our newsletter is a comprehensive summary of legislation that passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly in the Spring 2002 session that concluded just a few weeks ago.

Julie K. Hughes, 1950-2002 November 2002 The Illinois legal community, the ISBA and the Education Law Section Council lost a valued member last summer when Julie Hughes passed away on July 1, 2002 after a battle with cancer

Legislative summary July 2002 An initiative of The American Jewish Committee's Chicago Chapter, the bill provides that, beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, public elementary and secondary schools may incorporate activities to address intergroup conflict, with the objectives of improving intergroup relations on and beyond the school campus, defusing intergroup tensions, and promoting peaceful resolution of conflict.

National teacher certification By William Crawford April 2002 The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards was created in 1987 after the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy's Task Force on Teaching as a Profession released, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century.

No Child Left Behind Act sets heightened standards for schools By Paul Ciastko & Susan W. Glover November 2002 On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA).

Private right of action for federal privacy violations barred By Phil Milsk November 2002 On June 20, 2002, the United States Supreme Court held, in the case of Gonzaga University v. Doe, that parents and students who claim to be aggrieved by violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) have no private right to sue under FERPA.

School referenda: 61 pecent pass, 39 percent fail— March 19, 2002 By Marcy Dutton May 2002 Results of the March 19 referenda on questions to raise school district tax rates and to issue bonds reveal that 69 of the 114 questions, or 61 percent, were successful and that 45 or 39 percent of the questions were defeated.

Supreme Court approves expansive random drug testing of students By Steve Rittenmeyer November 2002 In one of its final decisions of the 2002 term, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 majority, found constitutional a public school district program compelling all students who participate in any extracurricular activity to submit to a wide range of drug screening procedures, including random testing

Teacher certification and the implications of the Corey H. decision By Michael J. Hernandez May 2002 The 2000/2001 school term marked the first full year of implementation for Public Act 91-102, 105 ILCS 5/21-14, also known as the "Teacher Certificate Renewal Law."