California school funding analysis finds disparity [San Francisco Chronicle, 6/5/11]: State lawmakers have struggled for decades to bring equality to how school districts are funded, yet some districts receive thousands more per student than others, a California Watch analysis has found. And the data show spending more provides no assurance of academic success. Read the California Watch study. Analyze the data.

Study shows some East Bay districts get bigger bang for their bucks than others [Contra Costa Times 6/5/11]: In the East Bay, school spending and academic achievement vary widely, with some districts appearing to get more bang for their bucks than others. The reasons for the disparities are complex, district officials say. Yet most agree that spending more doesn't necessarily guarantee higher Academic Performance Index, or API, scores, while spending less doesn't always mean students will fare poorly.

Door opens for major reform of school finance [California Watch, 6/3/11]: In a notable display of bipartisan support, the state Assembly approved potentially landmark school financing legislation by a 74-2 vote this week. The vote reflected an overwhelming consensus on the need to reform the way schools are funded,

Assembly: Yes, fix school funding [Educated Guess, 6/3/11]: A bill that would become the foundation for restructuring the state’s K-12 funding system passed the Assembly this week with near unanimity (a vote of 74-2) – a sign that legislators agree with the concept and are willing to let important details be worked out in coming months.

N.Y. Court Upholds Rule Against Use of Schools for Sunday Worship [School Law Blog, 6/2/11]: A New York City school system rule barring the use of public schools for weekend religious worship services does not violate the First Amendment rights of a Christian church, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday. The decision is The Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York.

Fensterwald: Experiments in evaluating teachers [Educated Guess, 6/1/11]: Teachers of Lucia Mar Unified, near Pismo Beach, are a crack in the wall of resistance to overhauling how teachers are evaluated and rewarded for their performance.

Teacher and District Sued [Courthouse News, 6/1/11]: Parents say their 12-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by her 7th-grade math teacher, Steven Sande, 61, who awaits sentencing, and that Pajaro Valley Unified School District ignored previous complaints about his predations. Read the legal complaint.

Baron: The suspense is over: Local taxing authority bill heads to senate floor [Thoughts on Public Education, 5/27/11]: The wild budget rumpus is about to begin in earnest. Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s bill to give counties and school districts broader power to push for new taxes is headed to the Senate floor for a vote. SB 653 was among dozens of bills taken off the suspense file and passed Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses School Questioning Case [School Law Blog, 5/26/11]: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sidestepped an important test of whether in-school interviews of students by the police and other authorities require a warrant, ruling that the case—involving the questioning of an Oregon girl by authorities who believed she was a victim of sexual abuse at home—was moot. However, without deciding the merits of the issue, the court set aside part of a federal appeals court ruling that the Fourth Amendment required investigators to have a warrant or parental consent before interviewing students in school. The decision is Camreta v. Greene.

Scholar: Courts Ill-Equipped for School Reform [School Law Blog, 5/25/11]: Efforts to use the courts to reform public education have largely been a failure, says a political scientist who has closely studied school litigation. You can read the draft report.

Arizona judge narrows scope of FERPA “education records” in Tucson shooter Loughner’s case [Student Press Law Center, 5/20/11]: If we are not already at the point where it is an act of legal malpractice for an attorney to advise a college to defy a public-records request for anything other than academic-related records, then we are awfully close. The weight of legal authority that FERPA does not say what most school and college attorneys believe it says (or would like it to say) has become overwhelming. In just the past six months, court after court has rejected the view advanced by some in the Department of Education that any cocktail napkin scrawled with the name of a student qualifies as a FERPA education record. Read the decision by the Superior Court judge in Arizona in Phoenix Newspapers v. Pima Community College.

Court Backs Censorship of High School Paper's Sex Cartoon [School Law Blog, 5/18/11]: A New York State school district was on solid legal ground when it barred a high school student newspaper from publishing a sexually explicit cartoon, a federal appeals court (the 2nd Circuit) has ruled. The case is R.O. v. Ithaca City School District. On page 18 of the exhibits, courtesy of the “How Appealing” blog (http://howappealing.law.com/), you can find the cartoon in question. The Student Press Law Center has a press release about this decision.

“If you can’t beat the school board, join it.” Teenage editor is about to be his principal’s boss [Student Press Law Center, 5/18/11]: Memo to America’s high school principals: Be very, very careful whose First Amendment rights you step on. One day, you may wake up and find that student editor is your boss. And that day may come sooner than you think. Aaron Brant, editor-in-chief of The Oracle at Pennsylvania’s Rochester Area High School, emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary for one of five seats on the board of the Rochester Area School District. Winning the primary equates to winning a term on the board, since only five candidates will be on the November ballot.