Student Rights in School

05/23/2013

An Unexpected Reaction: Why a Science Experiment Gone Bad Doesn't Make Me a Criminal

By Kiera Wilmot, Student at 10:17am

After model student Kiera Wilmot was arrested and removed from her high school for doing a science experiment on school property...

05/15/2013

First Amendment

In Disturbing Trend, Kansas School the Latest to Punish Student for Harmless Tweet

By Greger Calhan, Legal Fellow, ACLU, Racial Justice Program & Brian Hauss, Legal Fellow, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 2:46pm

Update: An earlier version of this post did not cite Heights High School's letter to Wesley and his parents, which was originally published on KWCH.com.

In Kansas, joking about sports can be hazardous to your high school graduation. Wesley Teague, the senior class president at Heights High School in Wichita, Kansas, found this out the hard way. In a gently mocking 48-character Twitter post, Wesley wrote:

05/16/2013

Student Rights in School

With Historic Law, Maryland Offers Model to Address National Problem of Inequity in School Facilities

By Susan Goering, ACLU of Maryland at 9:42am

There is a hopeful story being written today in Baltimore City, a story that began with an all-too...

04/03/2013

Student Rights in School

YOLO: So Why Was a Texas Prankster Suspended When There Were Better Options?

By Rachel Goodman, Staff Attorney, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 1:28pm

Kyron Birdine, a high school junior in Arlington, Texas, didn't see much point to taking an extra standardized test...

04/17/2013

Police Brutality

Rogue Cop Assaults Elementary School Student

By Seema Sadanandan, Organizer, ACLU of the Nation's Capital at 1:43pm

When Officer David Bailey grabbed a 10-year-old student by the back of his head and slammed it into the school cafeteria table, it is safe to say that student was not free to leave. On that afternoon, Bailey decided that his routine beat on the streets of Southeast D.C. extended into the hallways of Moten Elementary School.

Although Bailey was not a trained school resource officer contracted from the Metropolitan Police Department nor one of the three contract officers assigned to Moten at the time, his presence raised no red flags. Regular visits from the police in D.C. Public Schools had become ubiquitous.

11/20/2012

Student Rights in School

School Principals: Students Have Privacy and Free Speech Rights Too!

By Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 10:05am

One of the technology-related civil liberties battles that ACLU affiliates around the country have been fighting in recent years involves defending students’ rights to privacy and free expression in the new electronic media that are becoming such a large part of their lives. For some reason many school officials seem to believe that when it comes to online communications, students have no such rights

04/18/2013

SNDA

The Single Most Important Step Congress Could Take to Improve the Lives of LGBT Students

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:48am

For those who work each and every day to secure basic fairness and equality under the law for LGBT Americans, the pace of positive...

05/02/2013

Disability Rights

Separate Is Not Equal

By Courtney Bowie, Racial Justice Program & Karyn Rotker, Race, Poverty, and Civil Liberties Attorney at 5:02pm

In a letter released this week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) informed Wisconsin that its publicly-funded private school voucher program must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In its letter, DOJ reminded Wisconsin that the state's "obligation to eliminate discrimination against students with disabilities is not obviated by the fact that the schools participating in the program are private secular and religious schools."

08/06/2012

Pregnant and Parenting Teens

Get Tested Or Get Out: School Forces Pregnancy Tests on Girls, Kicks out Students Who Refuse or are Pregnant

By Tiseme Zegeye, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 12:33pm

In a Louisiana public school, female students who are suspected of being pregnant are told that they must take a pregnancy test. Under school policy...

10/01/2012

Social Networking Privacy

California Social Media Privacy Laws Give Students, Employees Online Rights

By Chris Conley, Technology and Civil Liberties Fellow, ACLU of Northern California at 11:15am

On Thursday California Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills into law that will protect the privacy of employee and college student social media accounts in the state of California. While these bills aren’t perfect, they are an important first step towards recognizing that our rights—including our fundamental right to privacy—apply just as much in the online world as in the offline.

American Civil Liberties Union