This book examines legal issues that affect Catholic high schools. Chapter 1 discusses sources of the law and how fairness and due process, federal and state statutes, and various guidelines shape the law. Tort law, corporal punishment, search and seizure, defamation of character, and negligence are covered in chapter 2. Chapter 3 details issues surrounding student privacy and such issues as confidentiality of records, whereas chapter 4 describes the staff-student relationship and how the law governs confidentiality, sexual misconduct, physical contact, and other behaviors. Since student confessions can be an important part of the teacher-student relationship, legal aspects of confidentiality, legal immunity, case law, the student journal, and school retreats are discussed. Chapter 6 looks at child abuse and neglect and considers statutory guidelines, inservice education, who should file a child-abuse report, and teachers and abuse. Sexual harassment is treated in the next chapter, which includes an overview of actions that constitute harassment and suggested policies for addressing reports of harassment. Other topics receiving treatment include accommodating students with special needs, extracurricular and cocurricular activities, personal conduct of professional staff, gangs, copyright law, school handbooks, and Catholic-school finances. Each chapter includes a section for reflection and discussion. (RJM)

A practical guide to helping today's Catholic school teachers deal with the legal issues facing them.

The laws affecting education in the United States today can generally be classified according to four categories: (1) Constitutional law (both state and federal); (2) statutes and regulations; (3) common law principles; and (4) contract law. Students and teachers in private schools are not protected by federal Constitutional law because they are private agencies. For example, Catholic school administrators can restrict both student and teacher speech. In the Catholic school, contract law is the predominant governing law. The existence and roles of all parties involved in Catholic schools are governed by canon law, the law of the Catholic Church. Although civil courts will not allow religious institutions to evade legal responsibilities by invoking church law, churches have significant autonomy within the wide parameter imposed by civil law. After an overview of law as it pertains to Catholic schools, the next three chapters explore the legal duties and responsibilities of those involved in Catholic schools: bishops, pastors, principals, board members, teachers, students, and parents of students. The final section looks at some special situations such as corporal punishment, search and seizure, negligence, child abuse, and copyright laws. The book concludes with a detailed glossary and an index. (65 references) (MLF)

In the past two decades in the United States, more than 1,600 Catholic elementary and secondary schools have closed, and more than 4,500 charter schools—public schools that are often privately operated and freed from certain regulations—have opened, many in urban areas. With a particular emphasis on Catholic school closures, Lost Classroom, Lost Community examines the implications of these dramatic shifts in the urban educational landscape. More than just educational institutions, Catholic schools promote the development of social capital—the social networks and mutual trust that form the foundation of safe and cohesive communities. Drawing on data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and crime reports collected at the police beat or census tract level in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, Margaret F. Brinig and Nicole Stelle Garnett demonstrate that the loss of Catholic schools triggers disorder, crime, and an overall decline in community cohesiveness, and suggest that new charter schools fail to fill the gaps left behind. This book shows that the closing of Catholic schools harms the very communities they were created to bring together and serve, and it will have vital implications for both education and policing policy debates.