The Nation's Fascination With Education Litigation

The Nation's Fascination with Education Litigation

By: Ben Milroy

In the fall of 2002, Nicole “Nikki” Youngblood arrived to have her senior picture taken for her high school’s yearbook. She was expected to be wearing the dress code that all senior women at Robinson High School wore in their pictures: a traditional black scoop-necked dress. But Youngblood, who had dressed as a tomboy since she was eight years old, saw no problem wearing her atypical outfit of a black tie and sport coat. The school, however, disagreed. Because she refused to follow the dress code, the school refused to put her picture in the yearbook. In response, Youngblood did what any respectable student would do in today’s world—she took the case to court.[32]

In May of 2004, the court ruled in favor of Youngblood. They ruled that any student had 14 days after the release of the yearbook’s dress code to request for privileges to wear special outfits. Youngblood’s case is just one example of the thousands of lawsuits that are being targeted against schools. Nowadays, more and more students and their parents are refusing to accept responsibility for their actions. Whether they are teachers, coaches, administrators, other students or parents, no one is safe from potential lawsuits. The staff members of school systems are being charged with all sorts of cases dealing with discipline, sexual harassment, assault, and special education. No one is safe from being targeted by these asinine lawsuits. How exactly are our schools being affected by this sudden rise in education litigations?

To begin with, the employees of our schooling system now work in constant fear of being sued. In a recent study from Public Agenda, (“Teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today's Public Schools Foster the Common Good?” May 2004) 8 in 10 teachers said “students are quick to remind them that they have rights or that their parents can sue.”[33] Instilling this fear in teachers, students have gained a sense of power over their teachers. Now the students are in control of a lot of situations. For instance, twins graduating from Seminole High School in 1985 sued the Pinellas County School Board because they were being forced to share valedictorian honors with a third student. The three students had matching GPAs that put them on top of the class together, but the twins wanted to be unique. They thought it would be special and make a better news story if the sole title of valedictorian was shared between the family, and did not want the third party to be recognized.[34] Remember when class rank was determined by your work ethic and grades and not your cute matching smiles?

With the No Child Left Behind Act signed in 2002, this created even more opportunity for litigation. Many teachers now admit that their greatest concern in teaching the students and keeping them up to the law’s requirements is not for the students benefit, but rather to avoid the lawsuits that could potentially follow. Some teachers even fear breaking up fights so as not to becoming involved in the situation.[35] The fear of lawsuits does not discriminate for age, either—when a six year old girl brought her grandpa’s pocketknife in for show and tell, she was suspended for several days. At such a young age, it is doubtful that the girl had malicious intent, and should have been taught the dangers of the weapons rather than receive such a punishment.

Sexual assault cases are even more closely watched. Nowadays, any small touch, even a reassuring pat on the shoulder, could be interpreted as a sexual assault case. One outrageous sexual assault case involving two students happened at Mount Pleasant Area Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In order to avoid litigation, the school issued a ten day suspension to a second grade boy who kissed his female classmate .[36] Sexual assault cases have now been taken to the extreme point of elementary students. Principals of schools are advising their teachers never to give out hugs to students or close the door when they are only with one other student. This will not only help protect the teachers from sexual assault, but the students as well by eliminating opportunities for such assaults to occur.

The constant fear of being sued has driven many educators away from their fields. Too often, teachers' messages are being misinterpreted by students or their parents. When teachers' words are misconstrued, it often puts them in compromising positions. One anonymous teacher commented on his words being misinterpreted: "This isn't worth it. I have to go through the whole legal system because she said this, and I said that." Shortly after this comment, the teacher retired from his position.[37]

In many cases, after being named as a party in a lawsuit, teachers move schools in order to bypass the legal process. It often ends the careers for those who were near retirement. Over 75% of teachers feel they are “the scapegoats for all the problems facing education.”[38] What makes it even more difficult for the educators is that parents almost always take the sides of their children. Rather than investigating the true story, parents are quick to jump into legal action. One St. Louis teacher summed up the situation as, “[w]e live in a world where all they have to do is whisper that we hit them. And we’re gone. I already had this year a kid accuse me of hitting him. A lot of the kids know they can go over your head”[39]. The ever present danger of litigation has changed the face of education, and the interactions between teachers and students.

Schools are being affected in more ways than the concern of lawsuits. The amount of money being put forth to handle all of these legal suits is taking its toll on the education field. Scottsdale School System in Arizona alone reported over $675,000 was spent to handle lawsuits during the 2003-2004 school year. In the St. Petersburg Times, Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, expressed concern that we are losing the money that is necessary to educate our youth: “[w]e spend millions and millions on attorney fees every year that has nothing to do with the classroom.”[40] More and more cases involving more and more extreme situations are occurring. School administrators believe that this abuse of the legal system is being done for one simple reason—they can. Parents and students are able to get away with these ridiculous cases and make money off them. When a student running down the hall in an anonymous school tripped and broke a tooth, he sued the school for the damages. Although three teachers had asked the child to stop running, the lawyers questioned the school why there wasn’t a fourth teacher around the corner to prevent his falling. They won and received large compensation.[41]

When the courts rule in favor of ridiculous cases such as these, it opens the doors for all sorts of lawsuits. Students and parents alike are keeping watch for potential situations that they will be able to make more money. The litigation abuse exercised in our school systems instill fear in teachers and administration, which inhibits their ability to teach and often leads to their removal. The thousands of cases that are being charged against our schools result in millions of dollars being taken away from education. Until we make an effort to stop these lawsuits, the situation will only continue to get worse for our school systems.

What Can One Do? Where Have All the Doctors Gone? Education Litigation