Posts Archive

By Jordan Hager & Brent Villasenor Loyola University Chicago’s Education Law & Policy Institute hosted over 200 legal professionals, educators, and community members at the 11th Annual “Education Law: A Year In Review” seminar on June 12, 2024. Hosted by … Continue reading →

By: Brenton Villasenor Even if you can, does it mean you should? Many religious school advocates may soon have to answer this question. The Supreme Court’s Carson v. Makin decision in June 2022 was perhaps one of the more significant … Continue reading →

On April 12, 2024, the Loyola Center on Education Law & Policy, in partnership with Illinois Disciplinary Equity Project and Forest Zafran Consulting hosted numerous educators, administrators, and attorneys for the Restorative Practices in Schools: Where are We Now? Symposium. … Continue reading →

By: Mary Hornschemeier Bandstra Participating in a college program while in prison has been definitively shown to reduce recidivism, to improve financial outcomes for former inmates and their families, and to save significant taxpayer money. But for nearly thirty years, … Continue reading →

By: Ibtesam Mustafa Teachers are absent for an average of 6% of the school year — this is where substitutes step in. Substitute teachers are critical to a school’s daily operation. They give teachers a sense of security, knowing their … Continue reading →

It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. Raising and educating children is not an easy task, especially in “villages” where resources for youth are comparatively scarce. To remedy such shortages, students have looked to … Continue reading →

Preschool attendance does not actually improve standardized test scores. This recent finding seems to fly in the face of decades of research, advocacy, and common sense. It also calls into question the billions of dollars that federal, state, and local … Continue reading →

University of California College of Law, San Francisco and Loyola University Chicago Schools of Education and Law will be hosting an interdisciplinary convening series entitled “An Antiracist Research Agenda to Advance Restorative Practices in PreK-12 Schools.” We are seeking proposals … Continue reading →

How free are teachers to speak their mind on their personal social media accounts? With the rise of social media, teachers are in the public eye more than ever before. As students’ First Amendment rights have been put under a … Continue reading →

The federal government has an essential role in protecting students of color. School discipline policies and procedures have an adverse impact on the educational outcomes of students. According to a 2018 report from the Center for Promise, harsh school discipline … Continue reading →

Are innocent white children being made to feel guilty for the sins of people long gone? Worse yet, are students being indoctrinated with anti-American rhetoric by the institutions to which their learning has been entrusted? Many conservatives certainly seem to … Continue reading →

What affiliation with a university, if any, must complainants and/or respondents possess to ensure that plaintiffs have standing to hold universities accountable for deliberate indifference under Title IX? This threshold inquiry, one that is critically important to resolving preliminary questions … Continue reading →

Any former high school student remembers the drama of varsity athletics, whether you were an athlete or not. Filling the limited spots on the varsity team meant feelings were hurt, hearts broken, and dreams crushed. Brandi Levy, the underage plaintiff … Continue reading →

Elementary school student Kellan’s family looks a little different from the average family living in Sarasota, Florida and he’s used to fielding invasive questions from his classmates. Kellan has two dads, a concept that can be puzzling for the curious … Continue reading →

Since January of 2021, state legislatures have proposed over 100 bills limiting teaching in classrooms. These topics include race, American history, gender identity, sexual orientation, politics, and Critical Race Theory (understanding the social constructs of race and the systemic barriers … Continue reading →

Thirteen-year-old Greyson Schwaigert is forced to risk his life to receive an adequate education. Greyson suffers from a rare genetic disorder, which means that COVID-19 poses a threat to his life. On top of that, Greyson has a developmental delay, … Continue reading →

Racism – unconscious bias – implicit bias – critical race theory – anti-racism – anti-anti-racism. Everyone has something to say about these terms and where they belong in our culture. Implicit bias has become the most recent idea to suffer … Continue reading →

Can schools discipline students for what they post online? While the classic lawyer’s answer—“It depends”—still applies, the window has just gotten a bit narrower. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a former high school cheerleader who was … Continue reading →

Across the country, a child is removed from their home and placed in foster care every two minutes. Not all children in foster care have endured the same level of maltreatment, but they all experience some level of trauma when … Continue reading →

Sports. We follow them, watch them, and, above all, we talk about them. We shout at the screen during an intense play and cheer among the crowd as our team scores. We talked about Kaepernick taking a knee and Lance … Continue reading →

  Our usual way of life was upended during the pandemic. People stayed home from work and school and found themselves looking for anything to do. For many, the answer was simple – go outside. There is evidence that exposure to … Continue reading →

Parents, educators, and legislators are focused on post-COVID “learning loss” instead of healing and learning from the loss. When my brain is too tired from constantly working for hours, I give it a break. There is a coffee/tea break, lunch … Continue reading →

Imagine being transported to an elementary school twenty years ago. Before the average student had personal cell phones. The only camera on campus was perched at the front door of the building to monitor who entered and exited. Teachers were … Continue reading →

I remember my first zoombomber like it was yesterday. “So, I think we’re ready to go into breakout rooms now, but let me first explain the directions.” *Ding dong* A student had entered the waiting room. Strange. I thought this … Continue reading →

Worldwide, 2020 has been different for plenty of reasons. With the cancellations of all normalcy, it is fair to assume that effects of COVID-19 on young people around the world will take years to understand, and even longer to move … Continue reading →

It is a story I hear from parents again and again. In the spring I was understanding and flexible when my child’s school did not provide the services promised in their IEP. There is a global pandemic going on and … Continue reading →

When the Board of Education of District 186 met in mid-July in Springfield, Illinois, they weren’t yet debating remote-only versus hybrid instruction, or whether the administration had ordered enough wireless hot spots. Still, Springfield Education Association leaders and members who … Continue reading →

Earlier this year, a 15-year-old girl in Michigan was sent to a juvenile detention center for violating her probation. How did she violate it? By not completing her online coursework when her school switched to remote learning. The girl, identified … Continue reading →

With the uptick of furloughs and layoffs over the last six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more students face the possibility of insatiable housing situations and possible homelessness.  Even prior to the pandemic, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) reported … Continue reading →

Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, most schools in the United States made the difficult decision to conduct the school year remotely by utilizing video platforms such as Zoom and Google Classroom. Change is hard for most people. Parents with … Continue reading →

Based on a national survey of law schools, prominent educational researcher Dr. Perry Zirkel recently found that Loyola University Chicago School of Law appeared to offer the highest number of education law courses.  Loyola Chicago was rated ahead of Harvard … Continue reading →

Each year, the Education Law and Policy Institute hosts an Education Law Year in Review to highlight the year’s most important developments in the area of education law and policy in K-12 schools. This year brought a new virtual format, … Continue reading →

Since 2014, Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s student volunteer organization, SUFEO (Stand Up for Each Other!), has helped K-12 students facing suspension, bullying, or exclusion from school. However, as schools went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, SUFEO’s focus expanded … Continue reading →

As beacons of advocacy for underrepresented children, Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Civitas ChildLaw Clinic and Education Law and Policy Institute have provided legal services for cases ranging from child welfare to special education. However, faculty and staff realized … Continue reading →

Safety and child welfare are of the utmost priority in any school district. While all students deserve a learning environment free from abuse, students with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to behavior management methods, such as seclusion and restraint, that have … Continue reading →

One of the most cited and debated topics on the 2020 Presidential campaign trail is the fate of student loans. In today’s political sphere, generally a Democratic candidate may be known to be pro student loan forgiveness (or pro fiscal … Continue reading →

Every day, Elijah* walks to the corner bus stop.   Normally, he would board the 112 bus and ride the 20 minutes to school.  Today, however, he will walk.  Walking will make him late, but Elijah walks anyway.   Elijah has his headphones in as he weaves … Continue reading →

On May 6, the Department of Education released the much-anticipated Title IX Regulations for Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance. The new regulations spell out the scope of schools’ obligation to respond to allegations of sexual violence that … Continue reading →

The public health crisis resulting from COVID-19 thrust virtually all schools, teachers, and students into a world that relied on remote access to education, and it became clear that a significant number of students were left unconnected.   The Widening Homework … Continue reading →

What is mental health?  COVID-19 has already directly afflicted the lives of nearly 6 million people in the United States. The response to aid individuals afflicted with this illness has been emergent due to the threatening nature of COVID-19.   But what if there was … Continue reading →

Using the bathroom that corresponds to your gender is something most people do every day without thinking twice. But what if instead of a mundane everyday occurrence, it was something you had to fight for? For transgender students, bathroom use … Continue reading →

As protests challenging systemic racism and police brutality continue into their third month, the relationship between police departments and public schools is finally being questioned. While school boards in cities like Seattle and Oakland have voted to suspend or eliminate … Continue reading →

Families send their children to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) so they can graduate with a diploma and be prepared for success, but some students are leaving with more than they bargained for: a place in Chicago’s gang database. The Chicago … Continue reading →

In the midst of a potential national teacher shortage exacerbated by COVID-19, there is another kind of crisis flying under the radar. Put plainly, the teaching force lacks meaningful diversity. In a society that continually grows more diverse, with student populations reflecting this diversity, the teaching force is 80% … Continue reading →

Nationwide School Closures   With the exponential rise of COVID-19 positive cases throughout the United States, schools have found themselves in unmarked, formidable territory. One-by-one, states implemented preventative measures via temporary school closures in efforts to “flatten the curve.” As of mid-May, 48 states, four United States territories, and the District of Columbia closed schools for the … Continue reading →

As states like Illinois legalize or decriminalize the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes, how school districts discipline students (and staff) who use cannabis must evolve accordingly.  Under federal law, the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), marijuana is classified … Continue reading →

Peacocks attempting to board airplanes and longhorns on leashes barging into pet stores make for interesting news stories and plenty of comedy fodder. But these outrageous animal stunts serve as a hindrance to people who depend on service animals to … Continue reading →

Jennifer Babisak is a part-time law student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a student in Loyola’s Education Law Practicum Continue reading →