POSC 418: CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION
MILFORD PROGRAM
WINTER 2006
Joan DelFattore
Class hours: F 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
302-831-2987 (office)
E-mail: jdel@udel.edu
737-7124 (home and fax)
Homepage: www.english.udel.edu/jdel
COURSE GOALS
Participants in this course will:
* Identify the basic principles and practices of constitutional law
as they apply to
classroom teachers
* Conduct an in-depth analysis of three specific issues: religious
expression in the
public schools, ideological challenges to curricular materials,
and racial desegregation
* Survey other relevant constitutional issues, such as gender discrimination,
corporal
punishment, and mandatory drug testing
* Develop the vocabulary and interpretive skills necessary to
comprehend legal decisions
and scholarly writings dealing with the application
of constitutional law to classroom
teachers
* Conduct teacher-directed and independent online research into controversies
over
constitutional issues in public schools
* Independently research and analyze a relevant Supreme Court case
that was not
discussed in class
TEXTS
DelFattore, Joan. The Fourth R: Conflicts Over Religion in
America’s Public Schools. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
Readings to be distributed in class:
DelFattore, Joan. “Textbook Controversies Based on Content, Values,
and Viewpoints,”
unpublished update on textbook challenges; http://www.english.udel.edu/jdel/textbooks/html
Gebhart v. Belton: http://brownvboard.org/research/opinions/gebhart2.htm
Brown v. Board: http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Brown/
Ed Kee, "Brown Decision and Milford Delaware, 1954-1965," (Historical Society
of Delaware,
1997)
Eric Ruth, “Neighborhood Schools: Solution or Illusion? A History”
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2000/12/10schools-archive/040920001.html
Edwin Semans, The Milford Incident (Princeton University thesis, 1955)
TECHNOLOGY
Students must have an active e-mail account and check it regularly.
You will also be expected to
access information online and print it out. Students who do not have
your own computers, printers, and Internet access are welcome to use any
of the equipment on site. If any student does not know how to do Internet
research, please see me. Questions about activating e-mail accounts
or gaining access to the UD library databases from off-campus should be addressed
to the computer hotline at 302-831-6000.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Short Version: If I’m here, you’re here.
Long Version: The schedule for this class involves a tradeoff.
On the one hand, students receive
three credits for a class that meets only once a week. On the other
hand, each class meeting will last for most of the day, which means that
missing even one of them would be comparable to missing two weeks of traditional
MWF classes. Moreover, lectures and class discussions will include
information that is not in the readings, and students are responsible for
that material on tests. Absences will therefore be excused only in
cases of serious illness or family emergencies. Car trouble, arguments
with significant others, hangovers, social events, ennui, the need to catch
up on work or sleep, appearances on the Jerry Springer Show, or abduction
by creatures from another planet are not justifications for excused absences.
(Students may argue that the last two are redundant.) Moaning about
the long periods is optional but immature, since they are part of an arrangement
whose benefits you are also enjoying. Arriving late and leaving early
are not options except under unusual circumstances. Students will lose
class participation points for each unexcused absence, and anyone who repeatedly
arrives late or leaves early will lose points for the cumulative loss
of class time. Students who miss in-class written work will not be
permitted to make it up unless arrangements have been made in advance.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
The university’s academic honesty policy, which appears at http://www.udel.edu/stuguide/04-05/code.html#honesty,
will be enforced in this course. If any student plagiarizes all or
part of any assignment from online or print sources or from another student’s
work, it will be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs; see http://www.udel.edu/judicialaffairs/
for the procedure.
ADA STATEMENT
Students with disabilities should contact the University of Delaware’s Office
of the ADA for information regarding possible accommodations. See the
ADA Policy at http://www.udel.edu/ADA/Stu/stu.html
for more information. It is the student’s responsibility to contact
the ADA office to receive support.
GRADING
Three papers @ 15 points each:
45 points
Quiz:
10 points
Class participation: 5 class meetings @ 9 points/class: 45 points
Class participation includes contributions to small group work, in-class
online research, oral reports, panels, and other discussion assignments.
If you don’t hear anything from me, you can assume that you received the
full number of points for that day. If you are unprepared or fail to
take a full share in the class activities, I’ll talk with you about the points
for that day . Students who have excused absences may make up the points
by turning in appropriate written work to be agreed on with the instructor.
Final grade: 95-100 = A, 90-94 = A-, 87-89 = B+, 83-86 = B, 80-82 =
B-, 77-79 = C+,
73-76 = C, 70-72 = C-, 67-69 = D+, 63-66 = D, 60-62 = D-, 0-59 = F
Note: Points will be deducted if oral presentations are not prepared
or if written work is not turned in on time. Extensions will be given
only for the reasons listed under excused absences. It is true that
problems may arise on the day before an assignment is due (computer failures,
etc.), but the student is responsible for his/her decision to wait until
then to write or print it.
SCHEDULE
Note: Please bring the assigned readings to class each week.
If students have signed up to do different readings, you are responsible
for bringing only the one for which you signed up.
Jan. 6: Introduction to the course (handout: study guide for
today’s material)
Overview
of the federal court system (handout: Federal Courts Finder)
Mini-lecture
on academic freedom, censorship, and challenges to curricular materials
In-class
online research on challenges to instructional materials:
Each student will sign up for one of the options below. Two or three
of you will
share a computer, carrying out the research assignment and preparing to share
your findings with the rest of the class in an informal panel presentation.
The
students in each small group should divide the work among yourselves; for
instance, one student might do the keyboarding and any necessary printing,
another might keep notes on what you’re finding, and another might be
responsible for presenting the material to the class. It is up to each
small group
to decide what, if anything, to print out so that you can share it with the
class.
If a screen looks particularly interesting or informative, go ahead and print
it.
You should also be prepared to provide the url for any site you mention.
a. Go
into Google or another browser of your choice and find websites that
deal with the controversy over intelligent design. Look for the major
arguments for and against including intelligent design in the public school
science curriculum. In addition, look for arguments about whether intelligent
design is or is not the same as creationism.
b. Access
the UD Library’s home page, then Databases, then LEXIS/NEXIS,
then General News. Select “Previous year” as the time span to be covered.
Type in keywords of your choice – e.g., “sex education,” “phonics and
textbook,” or “Huckleberry Finn and NAACP” – and refine the search as
necessary. The objective is to select 5 or 6 news articles on a topic
of
interest to you that relates to challenges to curricular materials.
Summarize
what you learn from these news articles.
c. Go into Google or another browser of your choice and search under
“banned
books.”
Choose four websites and briefly summarize what you learn from
each
of them.
Mini-lecture on religion
in public schools, including the background of The Fourth R
Sign up for one of
the assignments for next week’s class
Assignments for next class:
1. Read Chapter 1 of The Fourth R.
2. Read the one of the following assignments for which you signed up:
Chapter 2 of The Fourth R
Chapter 3 of The Fourth R
Chapter 5 of The Fourth R
Chapter 6 of The Fourth R
“Textbook Controversies Based on Content,
Values, and Viewpoints”
3. Write a paper on the topic that corresponds
to the material you read. The paper should be typed, double-spaced,
and approximately three or four pages long. If you need a little more
space, feel free to go over onto a fifth page.
If you read “Textbook Controversies”: First, summarize the controversies
involving the Rainbow Curriculum and Nappy Hair. What material
was being criticized, and why? Second, explain briefly how the states
of Texas and California influence the content of textbooks that are used
nationwide.
If you read Chapter 2: Briefly describe the school-prayer controversy
presented in this chapter. Who was fighting with whom, and about what?
What did the Protestants want the Catholics to do, and why? What did
the Catholics want to do, and why? What were the most important events
in the struggle?
If you read Chapter 3: Briefly describe the school-prayer controversy
presented in this chapter. Who was fighting with whom, and about what?
What did the Protestants want the Catholics to do, and why? What did
the Catholics want to do, and why? What were the most important events
in the struggle?
If you read Chapter 5: Briefly describe Engel v. Vitale.
Who sued whom, and why? What were the main arguments on each side of
the case? What did the Supreme Court decide, and what reasons did it
give?
If you read Chapter 6: Briefly describe either Murray v. Curlett
or Abington v. Schempp. Who sued whom, and why? What were
the main arguments on each side of the case? What did the Supreme Court
decide, and what reasons did it give?
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Jan. 13: Small-group work to allow students who did the same assignment
to prepare
to present
this material to the rest of the class
Student-led discussion of “Textbook Controversies”
Mini-lecture on Mozert v. Hawkins County Schools
Videotape: Censorship in Our Schools (re Mozert)
In-class reading and discussion of Heather Has Two Mommies, Daddy’s
Roommate, and Nappy Hair
Instructor-led discussion of Chapter 1 of The Fourth R
Student-led discussion of Chapters 2, 3, 5, and 6 of The Fourth R
Assignments for next class:
1. Read Chapters 11-16 of The Fourth R
2. Be prepared to take a quiz that will consist of one or more of the
following questions, selected by the instructor:
(a)
What does the Equal Access Act say? What do public schools have to
do as a
result of this law, and under what
conditions does it apply?
(b)
Why doesn’t the Equal Access Act apply only to religious speech by students?
(c) What’s the difference between prayer that’s said as an official
part of the school
day and prayer that’s led by students
on their own time?
(d) In Herdahl v. Pontotoc County, what kinds of Bible classes were
being offered?
What did the court say about them?
(e) Describe the graduation prayer practices that were challenged in Lee
v.
Weisman.
Who objected to them, and why? Who won? What reasons did the
Supreme Court
give for ruling as it did?
(f) Explain the Lemon test and the coercion test.
(g) What effect did the Columbine shootings and the terrorist attacks of
September
11, 2001, have on arguments
over school prayer?
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Jan. 20: Quiz
Discussion of quiz questions
Mini-lecture on current law regarding moments of silence
Small-group work to apply the principles we just discussed to one of the
following real-life situations:
1. You are teaching in a middle school that has never had any extracurricular
clubs. The school board decides that the students would benefit from
having an extracurricular program, and you are assigned to draft a policy
that addresses the following topics: how faculty sponsors are appointed,
what their responsibilities will be, what clubs will be created by the school
to make up the initial program, when they will meet, and what procedure will
be used to evaluate requests from students who want to initiate additional
clubs. Based on what you have learned in this course, what rules would
you want to establish, and why? Be sure to address the issue of religious
clubs. Your response can be a letter to the school board, a proposal
to be delivered aloud at a school board meeting, a debate among teachers
and/or parents, or any other form of presentation you like.
2. You have been assigned to take charge of plans for graduation in
your school. (It is up to the group to decide whether this is elementary,
middle, or high school.) In accord with school policy, you are supposed
to select two graduates to deliver what the school guidelines describe as
“inspirational remarks” during the ceremony. The guidelines leave you
free to use whatever standards you like in choosing the speakers, whose remarks
may take the form of prayer as long as the content is not sectarian or proselytizing.
You are responsible for reviewing the students’ proposed speeches in advance
and making any changes you consider necessary. Based on what you have
learned in this course, identify three concerns you might have about the
policy as it now stands. What would you say or write to the principal
of your school to explain the basis for your concerns and your suggestions
for improving the policy? If you choose to answer this question by
describing a face-to-face discussion with the principal rather than
writing him/her a letter, feel free to prepare a dialogue or a role-playing
situation.
3. During a third-grade art class, you assign each child to write his
or her name on a slip of paper and put it into a box. Each student
then picks the name of another child in the class to be the recipient of
a valentine. You instruct the students to cut out a heart-shaped valentine,
decorate it, and write a little message on it. Josh, who is Christian,
picks the name of Heather, who is Jewish. Josh makes a valentine in
the shape of a cross with a message saying “Jesus loves you” and gives it
to Heather. She takes her valentine home and tells her mother that
what she learned in school today is that Jesus loves her. The mother
arrives at school the next morning to complain that the school is interfering
with her right to decide when and how to introduce her child to the tenets
of religions other than Judaism. The principal, one or both of Josh’s
parents, Heather’s mother, and the two children are involved. Now what
do you do?
Each small group presents its conclusions in whatever form it chooses (e.g.,
panel presentation, report, debate, role-playing)
Students sign up for next week’s assignments
If time permits, mini-lecture on civil rights issues in the public schools
Assignment for next class:
1. Each student will sign up to read one of the following decisions:
Dred Scott v. Sandford (legality of slavery)
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/21.htm
Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal doctrine)
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/33.htm
Gebhart v. Belton (Delaware’s school desegregation case)
http://www.english.udel.edu/jdel/gebhartvbelton.html
Brown v. Board (school desegregation)
http://www.nps.gov/brvb/pages/decision54.htm
2. Type approximately
three to four double-spaced pages answering the following
questions:
a. What were the facts of the case? That is, what was going on
in the school, and
how did the case get to court? Who sued whom, and why?
b. What did the court say? What were the two or three most important
reasons
for the ruling?
3. Read the assignment for which you signed up and be prepared to discuss
it with the rest of the class:
Eric Ruth, “Neighborhood Schools: Solution or Illusion? A History”
Excerpt from Edwin Semans, The Milford Incident
Ed Kee, “The Brown Decision and Milford, Delaware”
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Jan. 27: Small-group work to prepare presentations on the four civil
rights decisions
Presentations on the four civil rights decisions
Discussion of the 1954 school desegregation controversy in Milford (students
will be
called on informally
to talk about the reading for which they signed up – Ruth,
Semans, or Kee)
Tape: Supreme Court oral argument in Cooper v. Aaron (re school
desegregation)
Videotape: After Ten Years: The Court and the School
Class discussion of the following scenario: You are working on a committee
of teachers of Grades 1-3, 4-6, or 7-8. The committee’s task is to
design a school assembly program for those grade levels to celebrate Martin
Luther King Day. A script written by the principal says that we should
rejoice because every school in America has been racially integrated since
the day the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board.
Making specific reference to the class readings, the tape of the oral argument
in Cooper v. Aaron, and the documentary After Ten Years, explain
what really happened. Then – and this is the most important part of
the exercise – decide what, if anything, you think the children in these
particular grades should be told in the script for the Martin Luther King
Day program. What factual information would you include or exclude,
and why?
Assignment for next class:
1. Read the Supreme Court decision for which you
signed up. If the url given here does not work, just google the title of
the case.
Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur (Do teachers have
a right to continue working while pregnant?) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=414&invol=632
Ingraham v. Wright (Is paddling “cruel and unusual punishment”?)
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/ingraham.html
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (Do school officials have the authority to
censor student newspapers?) http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/hazelwood.html
Vernonia School District v. Acton (Can schools require student athletes
to submit to mandatory drug testing?) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=515&invol=646
2. Type
approximately three double-spaced pages answering the following questions
and be prepared to use this information in a panel presentation:
a. What were the facts of the case? That is, what was going on
in the school, and
how did the case get to court? Who sued whom, and why?
b. What did the majority opinion of the Supreme Court say? What
were the three
most important reasons for the ruling?
c. How many Justices dissented? What were the three most important
reasons
he/she/they gave for disagreeing with the majority?
d. Do you agree with the outcome of this case? Why or why not?
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Feb. 3:
Small-group work to prepare panel presentations
Panel presentations
Wrap-up discussion of the federal
court process, constitutional law regarding religion, race, and free speech
in public schools, and other school-related federal issues.