One of the many functions of government is to administer the nation's public school system. In this regard, La Morte (1998) reports that the states have the primary responsibility for the maintenance and operation of public schools. However, the Federal Government also has some interest in education and seeks, through the National Institute of Education, to continually improve the country's educational system.
In terms of its specific responsibilities, each state is required by its state constitution to provide a school system in which children may receive an education with state legislatures exercising power over schools in a manner that is considered consistent with the state's constitution. Many state legislatures delegate their power over the school system to a state board of education. This then is the generally framework within which educational law may be best understood.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of some of the basic legal concerns and issues associated with education law. Among the issues discussed are: equal opportunity in education, public funding of private schools, religious issues, students with disabilities, and homeschooling. In general, the reviewed issues are examined in terms of students' rights under the American constitution, and the legal efforts to develop laws that maintain these rights for all students regardless of race, creed, or gender. The paper ends with a summary of the reviewed issues and a list of formulated conclusions.
Over the last four decades, one of the biggest concerns in education has been equality. This has been interpreted to mean that within states there must be efforts made to assure that each child, no matter where he or she is situated, receives an adequate education (Fischer, Schimmel & Kelly, 1998). The law most associated with this effort has been the Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974 which provides that no state shall deny equal ed...