School choice is a hot topic in current events today. After the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, charter schools and school voucher programs have been heated topics. Both charter schools and voucher programs have to do with giving students' and their parents the right and / or the opportunity to attend the school of their choice. This idea of school choice brings many questions to the forefront.
Some of the questions are the following; (1) Is secondary school a constitutional right? (2) Must all children attend school? (3) If school is mandatory, do students have a choice in what school they attend? (4) How do private schools fit in the system and should everyone be allowed to attend them? (5) Are charter schools the answer to the school choice dilemma for those without funds to attend private schools?, and (6) How much control over curriculum, etc. does the state government have over private schools and charter schools?
[...] The nature and degree of regulation by government agencies is every bit as important in determining the degree of school choice actually exercised by families as is the number of students attending nonpublic schools. The most common justification for mandating approval or accreditation of private schools is to give the state the means to ensure compliance with its educational standards.(BYU p. The Supreme Court has never held unconstitutional a requirement for state approval or accreditation of private schools. The state courts have considered the issue and have held that mandatory accreditation is constitutional provided that the state standards are not overly burdensome. [...]
[...] School officials may excuse lawful absences for things such as death in the family, student illness, religious holiday, and court summons.[iii] All Children Must Attend School As noted earlier, each state has its own particular compulsory education laws. Depending on the state, children must attend school during the designated age group as per law. Even though parents may have strong objections to their child's attendance at school, the courts have ruled that parents cannot avoid sending their children to school. [...]
[...] In Maryland, the local school superintendent may review a home-schooling portfolio or review home schooling instruction. If the superintended decides that the home schooling is not thorough, the family has 30 days to remedy the problems or cease instruction. Home school const. and extracurricular In addition to home schooling, there is the available option of private school. In the early twentieth century, there was a question as to whether a state had the right to require school attendance at state public schools. This issue was decided in Pierce v. Society of Sisters[vi]. [...]
[...] The local school board voted to require teachers to read a statement about intelligent design prior to discussions of evolution in high school biology classes. Parents of the Dover students challenged the school board decision in court stating that it violated the Establishment Clause. After a six-week trial, U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones issued a 139-page finding of fact and opinion (Kitzmiller v. Dover, Area School District F. Supp 2d 707, 2005) in which he ruled that the Dover school board mandate was unconstitutional. [...]
[...] The court held that the statute could not stand because the State of Arkansas' right to prescribe the curriculum for its public schools did not carry with it the right to prohibit the teaching of a scientific theory or doctrine based upon reasons violating the First Amendment. The court found that Arkansas was not attempting to eliminate all scientific teachings of the origin of man, but only evolution because of its supposed conflicts with the Biblical account. In Edwards v. [...]
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