How did this case get to court? (Lawyer & teachers comment please.)http://www.law.co

[PowerOfOne]

Re: How did this case get to court? (Lawyer & teachers comment please.)http://www.law.co

http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/A...pc=0&pa=0&s=News&ExpIgnore=true&showsummary=0

Partial C&P from the linked article:
---
A dispute in the U.S. Supreme Court over students' grading each other's tests and homework papers may emerge as the "sleeper" case of the term with potential ramifications for much civil rights litigation.

The Court is asked whether allowing students to grade one another's classwork while the teacher reads the answers aloud violates a federal law that bans the release of "education records." Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo, No. 00-1073, to be argued Nov. 27.

The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act has been on the books since 1974, but the justices are examining it for the first time.

The challenge appears to require the justices to engage in a classic exercise of statutory interpretation: Are student-graded homework and classroom work "educational records" under the law?

---

Teachers: How will an adverse ruling affect the way you manage your classrooms.

Lawyers: Can you explain how such a trivial issue got to any federal court, let alone the US Supreme Court?

Everyone else: Comments?

~laughing~ Sounds like the attorneys in question had an astute paralegal that could tie these two cases together! Anyone can sue for anything and have it heard in the highest court. It does not mean they will win, which apparently they haven't since it seems to be headed to the supreme court for a decision.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Hey you didnt answer me WH

what gives?

You asked while I was typing.

I don't know that we specified a forfeit. How about I excercise my tongue so it's in top condition next time I pass through Vancouver?

 

[Calamity Jane]

With this case, I think they are talking about Teacher's Aids, PCG, and the fact that alot of teachers (at least at the High School I went to) use these aids to grade papers, balance grade books, and this means that the select students get looks into parts of another student's transcripts.

I was also a TA, I graded papers, proctored exams, and wrote passes. It's part of the learning process. I got credit for it, just like any other class.

The gist I got was that this would also refer to the practice of passing your test, or pop quiz, or homework assignment to the person next to you to be graded. I can't think of a single class we didn't do this in. No one ever complained. What has changed so that this is now an issue?

I used to work for the military. As a civilian in the admin office, I had access to all personnel files. It was my job to maintain them, make sure that they were up to date, submit people for awards, etc. I had access to every disciplinary action, every social security #, maiden names, address of record, names and birthdates of children, income, etc. My job was much as you described your TA responsibilities. The Privacy Act didn't keep me out of records. It's in place to keep me from spewing that information to the general public. Shouldn't this Educational Records thing function in the same way?

 

[Spinaroonie]

This happened at my school Senior year. We then had to do the same thing only using our own papers...

Most peoples grades went up.

 

[LadyDarkFire]

PCG, I think what changed was this parent paid attention to a child who was hurt and angry about it. Personally, I was once sent to the principal's office for refusing to allow another student to see my paper due to the fact that the teacher didn't check the grading afterwards, and the last student who had graded my paper in this manner had misgraded me (intentionally, it was High School, so I'm not sure what this guy's problem was). The prinicpal tried to lecture me on "being a team player" and gave me a detention. Ultimately, the threat of a lawsuit worked in this instance, but what might have happened was the administration, and teacher, in this case did not give in, and the mother followed up on what is often used as an empty threat. Personally, I say good for her, she is defending her daughter, true, she might have monetary interests at heart, but someone needs to say something. Just because it was a "Time Honoured Tradition" doesn't make it right, example: Treating a Daughter as a piece of property to be sold into marriage. Time Honoured for a Long time, does that make it right?