lawprofessors

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 According to the " Institute for Jewish and Community Research " (IJCR) the University of California has gotten hit with a lawsuit and an investigation by the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, at two different campuses, for anti-semitic issues on campus. A federal lawsuit was filed against the University of California Berkeley (UCB) earlier this month (March 2011) based on incidents involving alleged targeting of students of Jewish ancestry.  In the complaint are outlined an injury to the claimant (a Jewish student) who was struck by a shopping cart while holding a sign up on campus which read "Israel Wants Peace" during a protest.  There is also an alleged pattern of activities listed as supportive of the claim of anti-semitism at UCB.  The basis for the complaint are alleged denial of the students right to free exercise of religion, deliberate indifference to dis...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Religion and religious instruction in the schools generally does not occur based on the doctrine of separation of Church and State.  But, can a parent provide their OWN religious instruction during school hours for which they receive an EXCUSED absence?  Maybe-- the answer depends on the school district involved. Per California Education Code section 46014, a school district MAY adopt a policy allowing pupils to be excused from instruction to participate in: "religious exercises or to receive moral and religious instruction at their respective places of worship or at other suitable place or places away from school property designated by the religious group, church, or denomination" The code also states that such an absence, if allowed, is not computed as an "absence" for the school.  In other words, the school still gets paid for that child's attendance.  Sounds great! There a...