Educational Policy and the Law

If I could have given this book 4 and a half stars I would have done so. The only complaint that I have about this tome is that many of the court cases that I am interested in are not printed in part or entirety in this book. I will have to go to the law library to get the rest of the information that I need. This book was not in my law classes, but rather in a class for school administrators. I am writing on and very interested in the legal history of education, and this was a great find for me. Not only does it give pertinent information about all educational law, but the specific references and legal issues are there for gender and race discrimination in schools, busing, special education, etc. Any teacher, researcher, or lawyer in this field cannot just pick up a book that is only on their area such as special education, because the full information is not there nor does it make sense out of context of legal history. In order to understand the reason why Congress and courts saw the need to coin a new law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) rather than rely upon previous ammendments to other laws such as the Civil Rights Act and other education acts in the 1960's it is vital that the reader know the history and how those ammendments failed to guarantee educational rights for those with disabilities. This book is a vital reference that provides this information, the legal history, and it is well worth the money spent on it. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh