SALT Equalizer, Vol. 1990, Issue 2

Contents of this issue: Dean Rivkind, Our Tribute to Rhonda R. Rivera, at 1. Stephanie M. Wildmar, SALT Honors Berkeley Coalition for a Diversified Faculty, at 1. Howard Glickstein, President\u27s Column: Has SALT Been Co-Opted?, at 2. Henry Rose, Public Interest Law: An Historical Footnote?, at 3. Jim Odenkirk, The Cover Conference: A Student\u27s Perspective, at 3. Society of American Law Teachers 1990 Conference for Legal Educators, at 4. Eleanor Eisenberg, The Law School and the Socorro Society, at 6. Michael Burns, Editor\u27s Note, at 7

Increasing Safety in America's Public Schools

As the Public Education Network (PEN) and its member local education funds (LEFs) are committed to creating systems of public education that result in high achievement for every child, we believe that equal opportunity, access to quality public schools, and an informed citizenry are all critical components of a democratic society. Part of making available a high-quality public education is ensuring that students and teachers spend their days in safe schools, which are free from violence, free from fear of harassment and threatening situations, and conducive to teaching and learning.Five local education funds have helped their communities broach these difficult issues with conversations on national and local issues of safety and violence in schools. During the last part of 2000, more than 250 people participated in conversations in Buffalo, NY; Lancaster, PA; McKeesport, PA; and Paterson, NJ. In February 2001, the local education fund in Atlanta, GA hosted a conversation that included students, teachers, principals, law enforcement officials, parents, and other community leaders.These local education funds conducted their community dialogues on school safety and violence as part of an assessment of their community's readiness and capacity to address the health and well being of children in their public schools. This assessment included looking into issues of health insurance coverage, coordination of health and social services for children and their families, maintaining safe learning environments, and the level of resources devoted to children's health and social services. Participants, therefore, understood that these community dialogues are not just "one-shot" efforts at addressing school safety and violence but as a part of a more comprehensive approach to address the systemic issues affecting children in their public schools.The local education funds used The 1999 Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, Violence in America's Public Schools: Five Years Later, as a starting place for their conversations, to ground their local experiences in a national context. This Lessons from the Field provides a summary of the MetLife survey and highlights findings from the conversations in four local education fund communities. (Law enforcement officials are referred to in this publication as "officers." All teachers and students referred to here are from public schools, and all "schools" referred to are public schools.

Depriving Law Reform of Its Potential? \u3ci\u3eNew Perspectives on the Public-Private Divide\u3c/i\u3e Law Commission of Canada, Ed. (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2003)

New Perspectives on the Public-Private Divide is the second installment in a new series, Legal Dimensions, sponsored by the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, the Canadian Law and Society Association, the Canadian Council of Law Deans and the Law Commission of Canada. The ambitions of this series are large: to examine various issues of law reform form a multidisciplinary perspective [and]... to advance our knowledge about law and society through the analysis of fundamental aspects of law. The focus on the public-private divide is an excellent choice for the Legal Dimensions Series for no matter how one conceptualizes the relationship, or what one thinks about it, it is inconvertible that the distinction between public and private is a foundational aspect of contemporary understandings of the nature and function of law. The multidisciplinary ambitions of the series are also fulfilled, not only because the authors come from disciplines such as Communications, Geography, Philosophy as well as Law, but also because the lawyers draw heavily on other disciplines such as feminist political economy, governance theory and industrial relations. As such, this volume does advance our knowledge about law and society in significant and, in my view, quite exciting ways. However, the third side of the pyramid-- issues of law reform-- is more difficult to get a sense of in this collection. This last point will be the main focus of this brief review

Mandatory and Permissive Reporting Laws: Obligations, Challenges, Moral Dilemmas, and Opportunities

The duty to report certain conditions to public health or law enforcement authorities is one that falls on all physicians and other health care workers as part of their duty to protect the public from harm. In an open society, others, such as teachers, clergy, police officers, or simply neighbors, share the responsibility of protecting individuals at risk, often by reporting them to authorities. The emergency physician and others in the emergency department are uniquely positioned to identify people at risk or who pose a risk, and to report them as required or allowed under the law. In some circumstances, these duties may conflict with ethical duties such as respect for patient autonomy or to protect confidentiality. This article will examine mandatory and permissive reporting laws in various states from an ethical perspective. It will also explore emerging issues such as the reporting of suspected human trafficking. Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to report

Removing Stigma Around Disabilities in the Classroom: The History and Benefits of Inclusive Education

The right to an equal education for students with disabilities is not something that has been available to all children until recently. In 1975, the passing of Public Law 94-142 started the movement of social justice and inclusion for all people with diverse learning abilities to receive equal access to an education. This law has been restructured and is currently known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). Through this law, there are a growing number of students with disabilities (physical, learning, and intellectual) who are being placed in the least restrictive environment and spend most, if not all, of the day in a general education classroom. By looking at the history and understanding the policies and mandates that have generated the inclusion movement (for example, IDEA, Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and No Child Left Behind), this paper will define inclusive education. By exploring teaching practices and methods, this paper will also discuss how teachers can accommodate diverse learners in their classrooms. This paper hopes to bring awareness and highlight the benefits inclusive education facilitates so teachers, educators, parents, and everyone within the school community, and society at large, can be more accepting and accommodating to people with different learning abilities

The Consent of the Governed: Public Employee Unions and the Law

The major development in labor relations legislation during the past decade was the veritable eruption across the country of state statutes providing for the unionization of public employees. Wisconsin led the way in 1959 by \u27imposing the duty to bargain on municipal employers. Ten years later, by my count, 22 states had passed laws authorizing some form of collective bargaining for either state or local employees, or both. An additional ten or so states have prescribed bargaining procedures for certain specified categories of employees, such as firemen, policemen, teachers, or public transit workers. All told, over two and a half million state and local public service employees, better than a fourth of the total, are now organized. I shall deal briefly with three important problems of public employee bargaining-the subject matter of negotiations, the use of the strike weapon, and the possible role of compulsory arbitration. But first I should like to try to set these topics in a somewhat broader perspective. Some 15 years ago I heard the philosopher Hannah Arendt declare that the concept of authority had ceased to exist in Western Civilization. At the time I couldn\u27t really understand, let alone accept, what she had said. Now I think I understand. All the traditional lawgivers of our society-governments, churches, parents, and even, I must sadly acknowledge, university professors have been sharply challenged and, in part at least, discredited. From now on, it seems to me, the legal regulation of large masses of persons cannot be based upon the divine right of the lawmaker. Either it will have to be based upon raw power, exercised in a way which I feel would be incompatible with life in the good society, or else it will have to be based upon the consent of the governed. Let me be more concrete. In a period which has witnessed a nationwide flood of illegal strikes by those most docile of public servants - school teachers and postal clerks - I think we delude ourselves if we believe that traditional legislative prohibitions, backed up by court injunctions, fines, and jailings, can control the conduct of massive groups of persons who are convinced of the justice of their grievances, who have lost faith in the usual procedures for redress, and who are not ashamed to go outside the law, for example, through resort to forbidden work stoppages, in order to achieve their objectives. Law itself, of course, is one of the principal influences shaping a man\u27s or a group\u27s perception of legitimate or appropriate behavior. My point is that law is only one of those influences, and that law loses much of its effectiveness as a regulator insofar as it .loses touch with the thinking of the persons regulated. Put baldly, law loses much of its effectiveness.- insofar as the persons regulated conclude that they have more to gain by flouting the law than by obeying it. Society\u27s aim, therefore, should be to ensure that a citizen\u27s stake in having the law maintained is always greater than his interest in having it subverted. These comments may not sit well with many of you who suspect where I am headed. Indeed, I am not sure that all the implications of my comments sit well with me. In any event, it seems wiser to start with a candid view of an unsatisfactory reality than with a beguiling vision of a world that ho longer is. And as I see it, law can serve at best as a levee to channel great social movements, not as a dam to halt the tide. With that said, I shall tum to the scope of the obligation resting on public employers to bargain with their employees

An Educational History of the Gullahs of Coastal South Carolina from 1700 to 1900 (black Education)

The educational efforts of the first fifty years of the 1700s for the Gullahs, black slaves brought to South Carolina\u27s low country, were a by-product of the Church of England\u27s concern for the souls of heathens. Through the Church\u27s offspring, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, missionaries were sent to South Carolina beginning in 1702. By 1704, Samuel Thomas, the Society\u27s first missionary there, reported that he had taught about twenty blacks to read, and by 1743 the Society opened a school for blacks in Charleston despite a 1740 law prohibiting slave education. Using two black slaves as teachers, the Society\u27s school continued until 1764, graduating about twenty students a year. After the Revolutionary War, the free person of color population grew in numbers and influence, establishing the Brown Fellowship Society, the first non-white benevolent society in Charleston. One of its activities was the education of members\u27 children. Other societies followed suit, and by 1834 there were dozens of private schools in Charleston for free persons of color. While an 1834 law created additional restrictions on the education of the free persons of color, many private schools continued to operate. As early as 1861, teachers from the North, under the auspices of freedmen aid societies, arrived in the sea islands to help the blacks adjust to their new status. In 1865, their efforts were coordinated by the federal government under the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. With a new state constitution in 1868, the public schools of South Carolina were reorganized. Although tremendous gains were made, by 1870, the majority of the black students were still studying only spelling and reading. After the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision which created a separate but equal school system, the actual situation was anything but equal, with black schools in session a shorter term and a higher pupil-teacher ratio for black students. The education of the Gullahs from 1700 to 1900 was the result of compromise, and the blacks suffered from a lack of educational opportunities, not a lack of intellectual abilities

Courts and Access to Justice

(This article was presented as a lecture at the Australasian Law Teachers' Association Conference held at Victoria University of Wellington, 6 July 1999.) Ensuring access to justice is one of the most basic functions of the state. The author discusses the role and functioning of the Court of Appeal, the operation of the legal aid system in New Zealand, and the extent to which the operations of the court system should be open to the public. It is argued that any system of justice should reflect the values of its society. The author concludes that what is thought desirable in these three areas will change over time, and that there will always be a need for fine-tuning in light of societal values

PARENTS ROLE IN EDUCATION PROCESS AND THEIR RIGHTS, DUTIES IN COOPERATION WITH THE EDUCATION INSTITUTION

Latvia’s educational policymakers already in 2006 pointed out that one of the main obstacles to raising public awareness about the development of education is poor teacher training for working with parents. It means that a full understanding of the educational process by parents and teachers is unthinkable without cooperation. Respectively, cooperation with educational staff, pupils, parents and family, employers, local governments and state institutions, public organizations and society are pointed out as a fundamental principle of education development policy. Alongside with the other equally important basic principles - systemicity, succession, sustainability, accessibility and coordination. In Great Britain, executive representatives recommend actively incorporating parents into educational policies and practices. The inclusion of parents in teaching-related activities alongside prepared teachers has proved to be a useful factor in improving the attendance of school, the quality of teaching and social cohesion. The author thinks that it is necessary to find out the role of parents in the education process both in pedagogy and in jurisprudence. In Latvia, there are no researches done about this topic. The Education Law of the Republic of Latvia defines both the rights and responsibilities of parents. So, it means that it is important to look closer to these rights and responsibilities.

Clinical legal education in Croatia – from providing legal assistance to the poor to practical education of students

Although clinical legal education has a long tradition in common law countries, the countries of the continental European legal system, to which the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter Croatia) belongs, have recognized its importance in the last few years. The first established legal clinic in Croatia was the one of the Faculty of Law at the University of Rijeka. It has been implemented as part of the curriculum for the academic year 1996/1997 and offered to the fourth year students as an elective course entitled “Clinic for Civil Law”. Within the Rijeka Clinic, law students were able to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge, by resolving hypothetical cases, under the supervision and with the support of teachers, lawyers, judges, notaries public and state attorneys. In 2002, with the support of the Institute Open Society from Budapest, the Faculty of Law at the University of Osijek established a legal clinic in the form of practical training for students of the third and fourth year of legal studies. By participating in the clinic’s activity, students of Osijek Law Faculty helped provide legal aid to citizens of lower economic status. This included help in providing general legal information and legal advice, as well as help in covering procedural cost from the funds donated to the Clinic. The lack of financial means that were needed for daily expenditures meant that the Legal Clinic in Osijek was temporarily closed. Nowadays, faculty members of Osijek Law Faculty are trying to solve financial problems and to continue previous good practice in providing legal aid to the poor citizens