Judicial Decisions and the Public Schools
Keywords:
Public schools, Educational administration, Case law, Education policyAbstract
While the statute law governing B.C.'s public schools is familiar to a majority of its educators, there appears to be widespread uncertainty as to the content and relevance of judicial decisions, and also as to the ways in which the courts and various quasi-judicial bodies make the decisions. The major purpose of the research reported herein was to evaluate the extent and the significance of these decisions as they relate to public school operations in British Columbia. Scattered information concerning relevant decisions was gathered, organised and evaluated. In addition, a number of issues concerning the current and future impact of judicial decisions on school operations were brought into perspective. Major conclusions were: (1) judicial decisions do play a significant role in B.C. public school operations; (2) greater interest, knowledge and involvement on the part of educators is required.
References
Bargen, P. The legal status of the Canadian public school pupil. Toronto: Macmillan, 1961.
Begin, G. Letter to Premier of B.C., on behalf of B.C. School Trustees Association, re education of children with special needs. 9 April 1981.
Braybrooke, D., & Lindblom, C. A strategy of decision. New York: The Free Press, 1963.
Chandler, M. Public policy and provincial politics. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979.
Dawson, R. The Government of Canada (5th ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970.
Enns, F. The legal status of the Canadian school board. Toronto: Macmillan, 1963.
Hogan, J. The schools, the courts and the public interest. Lexington, Mass.: Heath & Company, 1974.
Kirp, D. The bounded politics of school desegregation litigation. Harvard Educational Review, 1981, 51, (3), 395-414.
Lederman, W. The power of the judges and the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. University of Victoria public lecture, 31 March 1982.
McCurdy, S. The legal status of the Canadian teacher. Toronto: Macmillan, 1968.
Nicholls, A. A guide to the School Act of B.C. (2nd ed.). Vancouver: B.C. School Trustees' Association, 1980.
Nicholls, A. The significance of judicial decisions for the British Columbia public school system. Unpublished dissertation, University of Victoria, 1981.
Nyman, A. News release by South Caribou Board of School Trustees re provision of education for handicapped students. Ashcroft, B.C., 22 September 1980.
Ombudsman. 1980 report of the B.C. Ombudsman to the Legislature. Victoria: Queens Printer, 1981.
Patterson, A. Professional malpractice: A small cloud but growing bigger. Phi Delta Kappan, November 1980.
Rist, R., & Anson, R. Education, social science and the judicial process. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1977.
Russell, P. The effect of a Charter of Rights on the policy making role of Canadian courts. Canadian Public Administration, 1982, 25, (1).
Stables, A. Specialists nudged the generalists. Victoria Times-Colonist, 15 February 1981.
Thomas, A. Accidents will happen: An enquiry into the legal liability of teachers and school boards. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1976.
Valente, W. Law in the schools. Columbus, O.: Charles E. Merrill, 1980.
Van Loon, R., & Whittington, M. The Canadian political system (2nd ed.). Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1976.
Wuester, T. Presentation on possible liability for educational malpractice, negligent placement, and for negligence in counselling. Conference for B.C. Superintendents of Schools, Vancouver, January 1981.
Yogis, J., & Christie, I. Legal writing and research manual (2nd ed.). Toronto: Butterworth, 1974.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Canadian Journal of Education follows Creative Commons Licencing CC BY-NC-ND.
