Schools in two states unblock LGBT sites
Dozens of Tennessee schools have restored students' access to online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues, just a few weeks after the American Civil Liberties…
Litigation
Michigan school official indicted on eRate bribery charge
A former superintendent of a school district in Michigan has been indicted on a conspiracy charge for allegedly accepting a bribe to award an internet services contract through…
Knox County schools unblock gay-issues web sites
Educational web sites about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues will be accessible now at Knox County, Tenn., schools after a glitch blocking the sites was corrected, reports…
Lawsuits test free speech in internet era
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia must decide whether a Pennsylvania middle school can suspend a student who, at home on her own time, created a lewd MySpace…
Obama names first Hispanic to High Court
President Barack Obama on May 26 named federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor as his choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter--making her the first Hispanic in…
ACLU sues over blocked web sites
The American Civil Liberties Union and its Tennessee branch sued two Tennessee school districts in federal court May 19, claiming that the districts are unconstitutionally blocking students from…
Google’s book scanning faces scrutiny
A proposed settlement among Google Inc., the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers over Google's extensive book-scanning project faces growing scrutiny--and new fears that the deal…
Pennsylvania sues cyber charter, alleging misuse of funds
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has sued Agora Cyber Charter School in Devon, Pa., alleging its board misused millions of taxpayer dollars to benefit a company owned by…
Campus network used in spamming scheme
Two Missouri brothers were indicted by a federal grand jury April 23 on charges of illegally harvesting student eMail addresses from more than 2,000 campuses using a program…
Campus network used in spamming scheme
Two Missouri brothers were indicted by a federal grand jury April 23 for illegally harvesting student eMail addresses from more than 2,000 campuses using a program that falsified…
Court debates strip search of student
The United States Supreme Court spent an hour on Tuesday debating what middle school students are apt to put in their underwear and what should be done about…
My students. My cell phone. My ordeal.
The Channel 4 Newsbreak was meant to shock: "High school assistant principal in Loudoun County arrested for child pornography," announced the anchor. "Details following the Olympics." "That was…
Music hearing can’t be streamed online
Oral arguments in a music downloading lawsuit filed by the recording industry against a Boston University student can't be streamed online, a federal appeals court ruled April 16.…
Music hearing can’t be streamed online
Oral arguments in a music downloading lawsuit filed by the recording industry against a Boston University student can't be streamed online, a federal appeals court ruled April 16.…
Fifth-graders may face charges for showing classmates internet porn
Two American Fork boys could face charges after accessing pornography on a school computer and showing it to classmates, reports the Daily Herald of Provo, Utah.
Judge: Education is not a right
South Dakota students aren't guaranteed a high-quality education, a circuit judge ruled April 8, in declaring that the way the state pays for education does not violate the…
Suit dismissed in firing over creationism eMail
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former Texas state science curriculum director who alleged that she was illegally fired for sending out an eMail message…
Federal judge blocks charges in ‘sexting’ case
A federal judge on March 30 temporarily blocked a prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against three northeastern Pennsylvania teenagers who appeared in racy photos that turned up…
Prosecutor sued for threatening charges in ‘sexting’ case
The American Civil Liberties Union sued a Pennsylvania prosecutor on March 25 over his threats to charge three teenage girls with child pornography for allowing themselves to be…
School sports caught in new-media rights dispute
A dispute over who has the right to broadcast school sporting events online has intensified, as a media company and a newspaper trade group say a lawsuit by…
Liverpool school district appeals dismissal of case against technology administrator
The Liverpool school district has appealed a decision to dismiss disciplinary charges against its technology administrator, according to the Post-Standard.
Hackers transfer $200,000 out of school’s bank account
Officials with the Carl Junction R-1 School District in Missouri say computer hackers apparently were able to transfer nearly $200,000 out of the district's bank account, reports the…
School scraps cell phone jammer program
Just days after testing a cell phone jammer designed to block students from calling and texting during class, a Spokane, Wash., area school has scrapped the program, MSNBC…
Student fights cyber-bullying record
A student who was suspended from high school for ranting against a teacher on Facebook is suing to have the blemish removed from her record, reports the New…
Patent fight shows perils of ‘tech transfer’
The University of Missouri is suing one of its professors in a case that points to the pitfalls of "technology transfer," the growing enterprise in which university labs…
Porn charges for ‘sexting’ stir debate
As eSchool News has reported before, the growing trend of teenagers distributing nude self-portraits electronically--often called "sexting" if it's done by cell phone--has parents and school administrators worried.…
Mother, son indicted in online tutoring scheme
A Minneapolis mother and son who ran an online tutoring program face federal fraud and conspiracy charges after they allegedly collected more than $2 million in state tax…
Ruling backs school in internet free-speech case
A federal judge has ruled that Burlington, Conn., school officials acted within their rights to discipline a student for an internet posting she wrote off school grounds, reports…