The school year has just begun and with it come a myriad of legal questions. For example, my child qualifies for special education classes - what services is he entitled to? What are the rights of the teachers? Are my student’s records confidential? hat rights does a student have during an expulsion hearing? What are the free speech issues for students?

Education Law by James A. Rapp is a multi-volume treatise that comprehensively covers topics of interest to educational institutions. It is appropriate for the attorney representing individuals who have a grievance against an educational institution as well as for the attorney representing the educational institution and its school board members and administrators. Two one volume texts that provide a quick overview are Public School Law: Teachers’ and Students’ Rights, 4th ed., by Martha M. McCarthy, Nelda H. Cambron-McCabe and Stephen B. Thomas and The Law of Schools, Students and Teachers in a Nutshell, 3rd ed., by Kern Alexander and M. David Alexander.

The Education Law Association, formerly NOLPE, is a non-profit, nonadvocacy organization open to anyone interested in education law. They publish small booklets dealing with specific, education related issues that may confront an attorney. Some titles in King County Law Library from this organization are: The Law of Student Expulsions and Suspensions, 2d ed., by Lawrence F. Rossow and Jerry R. Parkinson; The Law of Home Schooling by William M. Gordon, Charles J. Russo, and Albert S. Miles; and A Legal Guide to Religion and Publication Education, 2d ed., by Benjamin B. Sendor.

Other helpful texts discussing special education law, in addition to Education Law, are Special Education Law, by Thomas F. Guernsey and Kathe Klare and The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child, by Lawrence M. Siegel.

You can keep up to date with current trends with publications from continuing legal education seminars. From the Washington State Trials Lawyers Association is 2002 Teachers’ Law School: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Public Education which discusses constitutional law issues, privacy rights and violence in the school. Practising Law Institute has published the Third Annual School Law Institute, discussing new developments in special education law.