Public School Law: Teachers' and Students' Rights

I'm just an average teacher trying to stay out of trouble. For example, I just KNOW that kid has a cell phone - can I ask him to empty his pockets? This book provides a lot of great information, presented in a way that a non-lawyer can understand and digest. The information is presented in a way that is relevant to both teachers and administrators. It's geared towards federal laws, with comments about when and how state laws may modify things. (I'd like to find a version of this book oriented specifically to my state, now!) The best part of this book was the end-chapter summaries, which made good, helpful generalizations. The biggest weakness of this book was the organization. I read it cover-to-cover, and I didn't notice any issues. However, later, when I wanted to go back to a specific topic, the index and table of contents weren't as helpful as they could have been. I eventually found the section I wanted, but it was more work than it should have been.

With all the horror stories we hear about teachers being fired and sued over decesions they made about punishment and what to teach and how to teach, this book is a gold mine. It provides information on just about any topic a teach may encounter. Not only does it have great information, it is also written with few "legal trade" words.