Middle school girl expelled after reporting she was assaulted
A lawsuit filed against the Republic School District alleges school officials failed to protect a middle school girl from a male classmate who harassed her, sexually assaulted her,…
Litigation
ACLU sues Missouri school district over internet filtering
In the latest development in its national “Don’t Filter Me” campaign, which aims to stop schools from blocking students’ access to educational websites about gay, lesbian, and transgender…
FTC settles with kids’ app maker over alleged privacy violations
An app maker who created programs developed for children has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection…
SEC sues brokerage for fraud in Wisconsin school district deals–two years late
The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused a brokerage firm of duping five Wisconsin school districts into placing highly risky bets with public money--bets that resulted in fat…
Judge weighs request to block Ind. voucher program
Students who have signed up for Indiana's broad new school voucher program could be jerked out of private schools mid-semester or forced to scramble to re-enroll in public…
Justice Dept. accuses college of breaking law
The Obama administration and four states are accusing a private for-profit college corporation of illegally paying recruiters to enroll students, the latest action in an examination of the…
Education lawsuit: State expects too much, pays too little
Denver District Judge Sheila Rappaport began hearing arguments yesterday on one of the most provocative education lawsuits in Colorado's history, Lobato v. State of Colorado, the Huffington Post…
Court backs W.Va. school in online bullying case
A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the suspension of a West Virginia student who created a web page suggesting another student had a sexually transmitted disease and…
Jury awards $1M to boy in LA drug sting case
A jury awarded $1 million in damages Monday to a now-14-year-old boy who participated in a drug sting at the request of three former administrators at his Los…
Teen’s vengeful Facebook bullying turns into sentence for ‘child pornography’
A 17-year-old boy in Perth, Australia has been sentenced to 12 months in juvenile detention for pressuring underage girls to perform sexual acts on a webcam and then…
School district won’t allow black valedictorian, lawsuit alleges
After four years of nearly straight-As, Honors and Advanced Placement classes, 18-year-old Kymberly Wimberly achieved the highest GPA at McGehee Secondary School southeast of Little Rock, Ark., according…
Californian student to sue school district for teacher’s racist comments
Southern California student Coral Aviles will sue her school district for racist remarks made by her teacher, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Judge finds Indiana teen guilty in school shooting
A central Indiana teenager who insisted for weeks that he hadn't intended to kill a former classmate admitted in court Monday that he had hoped the shots he…
Late gay teen’s mom sues school district
The mother of a central California teenager who committed suicide after years of anti-gay bullying is suing her late son's school district for not working to stop the…
Indiana teachers sue to halt school voucher program
The Indiana State Teachers Association filed suit against the state on Friday, asking a court to block implementation of the country's largest private school voucher program, Reuters reports.
Teachers sue over new state ratings system
New York's new teacher-evaluation system--designed to rate them based in part on student scores in reading and math--is in jeopardy after the state teachers union filed a lawsuit…
Florida’s teachers union sues state over pension reform, plans further action
Florida's largest teachers union filed suit on Monday to stop the enactment of new pension reform laws, the first lawsuit of potentially many that seek to halt the…
Wisconsin unions sue over new collective bargaining law
Unions representing public workers in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday to block the state's new curbs on collective bargaining, which were upheld by the…
Pa. judge: No expulsion for kindergarten touching
A judge has overturned a kindergartner's expulsion from a Philadelphia charter school for touching his teacher's thighs after she complained that her legs hurt, reports the Associated Press.
Court: Teens can’t be suspended for MySpace parodies
Two Pennsylvania teens should not have been disciplined at school for MySpace parodies of their principals created from off-campus computers, a federal appeals court ruled June 13.
Pa. district in spying probe hit with 2nd suit
A former suburban Philadelphia high school student was "humiliated and severely emotionally distressed" by seeing photos and screenshots quietly taken by his school-issued laptop, according to the second…
Supreme Court gives Microsoft small victory, say patent experts
Although the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Microsoft's appeal of a four-year-old patent dispute, the company's efforts were not wasted, legal experts said today, reports ComputerWorld.
Readers take a stand for fired teacher
Our recent story “Teacher who video recorded disruptive student suing over job loss” prompted a wave of responses. Here's what others had to say about the situation—from whether…
Miss. school district sued over punishments
Civil rights advocates have filed suit against Jackson's public school district, claiming officials at one alternative school respond to minor violations by shackling children to railings and poles…
Valedictorian fights judge’s ban on graduation prayer
The valedictorian of a high school in a San Antonio suburb where a judge has banned formal prayers at graduation ceremonies on Saturday is fighting for an opportunity…
State says charter school misused federal funds
Don Bosco Charter High School, which already announced that it would close in June, needs to return $256,000 in allegedly misappropriated federal funds, the state announced on May…
White teachers told they’re unfit to teach black students
Four white Philadelphia teachers filed federal race-bias lawsuits that accuse a black principal of creating a hostile work environment and suggesting they were unfit to teach black children,…
Teen cleared in bullying case expresses sympathies
A teen who was exonerated in connection with a Massachusetts classmate's bullying-related suicide says he's grateful to her family for asking prosecutors to drop the charge against him,…
Student arrested for ranking female classmates on Facebook
In January, an Oak Park-River Forest High School student found himself in hot water after publishing a list of 50 of his female peers, ranking them based on…
Mom in Conn. school residency case back in court
A homeless single mother charged with intentionally enrolling her son in the wrong Connecticut school district asked prosecutors on Wednesday to drop the case so school officials can…
Roommate charged with hate crime in NJ webcam case
A former Rutgers University freshman who prosecutors said used a webcam to spy on his roommate’s same-sex encounter was charged April 20 with a hate crime and accused…
Conn. mom pleads not guilty over school enrollment
A homeless single mother who lives in her van pleaded not guilty Wednesday to stealing nearly $16,000 worth of education for her son by enrolling the kindergartener in…
Online law school applications to be accessible for the blind
Online law school applications soon will be useable by the blind under a court settlement obtained by the federal Justice Department.
New online-learning rule could have worst impact on small states
Colleges with online programs might withdraw from states, mostly in the northeast, that have small populations and stringent requirements for distance education courses when the Education Department’s “state…
Federal judge rejects plans for Google digital library
A federal judge on March 22 rejected a deal between internet search leader Google Inc. and the book industry that would have put millions of volumes online, citing…
Claim: Google Apps for Education inaccessible to blind students
An advocacy group has filed a complaint with the federal government accusing New York University (NYU) and Northwestern University of discriminating against the blind by adopting Google’s eMail…
Ohio gov. orders review in mom’s school choice case
Ohio Gov. John Kasich has asked the Parole Board to determine whether the felony conviction of a woman who used her father's address to enroll her children in…
Feds settle case of woman fired over Facebook site
School and other employers should think twice before trying to restrict workers from talking about their jobs on Facebook or other social media.
Tech-savvy students prompt colleges to revamp rules
Tony Brown didn’t set out to overhaul his college’s policies on intellectual property. He just wanted an easier way of tracking local apartment rentals on his iPhone.