SCHOOL LAW WGU D017 EXAMS SCRIPT 2026/2027
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Improving America's Schools Act - ✔✔supports schools in moving all children
toward higher academic standards
✔✔Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) - ✔✔Obama's act in 2015 that took over No
Child Left Behind
✔✔public school - ✔✔free schools supported by taxes
✔✔private school - ✔✔a school that is privately owned and doesn't rely on government
money to operate
✔✔charter schools - ✔✔Public schools that have been given the autonomy to establish
their own curricula and teaching practices.
✔✔Child Benefit Theory - ✔✔A criterion used by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine
whether services provided to nonpublic school students benefit children and not a
particular school or religion.
✔✔sunshine laws - ✔✔Law requiring agency meetings and decision-making process to
be open to the public. One way of making agencies more accountable to Congress and
the public.
✔✔1st Amendment - ✔✔Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition
✔✔Civil Rights Act of 1964 - ✔✔1964; banned discrimination in public accommodations,
prohibited discrimination in any federally assisted program, outlawed discrimination in
most employment; enlarged federal powers to protect voting rights and to speed school
desegregation; this and the voting rights act helped to give African-Americans equality
on paper, and more federally-protected power so that social equality was a more
realistic goal
✔✔Lau v. Nichols (1974) - ✔✔If a substantial number of non-English speaking students
reside in the district, the district must provide for these students with classes in English.
✔✔Castaneda v. Pickard - ✔✔1981 - set the standard for the courts in examining
programs for LEP students -- accountability for ESL programs
1. pedgaogically sound plan for LEP students
2. qualified staff to implement plan
3. system established to evaluate the program
** doesn't require bilingual education
, ✔✔Equal Access Act of 1984 - ✔✔Public schools cannot deny the use of their facilities
for any religious, political, or philosophical reasons if the school has created a "limited
open forum".
✔✔Title IX - ✔✔No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance
✔✔Equal Protection Clause - ✔✔14th amendment clause that prohibits states from
denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination
✔✔Tort Liability - ✔✔The legal requirement that a person responsible, or at fault, shall
pay for the damages and injuries caused
✔✔Negligence Tort Liability - ✔✔Defendant had duty to manufacture a reasonably safe
product/was in the business of selling or manufacturing product
That duty was breached
Breach of duty caused plaintiff's injury (product reached plaintiff in same condition)
Foreseeable that defect would cause injury
Plaintiff has property or physical damages
✔✔Defamation (Tort Law) - ✔✔Employers can be liable for defamation when giving
false/unfavorable references about a former employee
✔✔intentional tort - ✔✔tort in which the defendant means to commit the injurious act
✔✔False Imprisonment (Intentional Tort) - ✔✔Intentional detention of person without
that persons consent (Civil side of kidnapping)
✔✔Procedural Safeguards in IDEA - ✔✔The opportunity for parents to review their
child's full educational records; full parent participation in identification and IEP team
meetings; parent involvement in placement decisions; Prior Written Notice; the right of
parents to request independent educational evaluations at public expense; Notice of
Procedural Safeguards; Resolution Process; and objective mediation funded by the
state education agency and impartial Due Process Hearings
✔✔ADA Amendments Act of 2008 - ✔✔Retains the basic definition of "disability" under
the ADA. However, it expands the definition of "major life activities" by including two lists
of activities: The first list includes Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
recognized activities such as walking and some not-specifically recognized EEOC
activities such as bending, communicating, and reading. The second list includes major
bodily functions. In short, this Act stresses that the definition of disability should be
interpreted in favor of broad coverage of individuals to maximum extent permitted by the
terms of the ADA.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Improving America's Schools Act - ✔✔supports schools in moving all children
toward higher academic standards
✔✔Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) - ✔✔Obama's act in 2015 that took over No
Child Left Behind
✔✔public school - ✔✔free schools supported by taxes
✔✔private school - ✔✔a school that is privately owned and doesn't rely on government
money to operate
✔✔charter schools - ✔✔Public schools that have been given the autonomy to establish
their own curricula and teaching practices.
✔✔Child Benefit Theory - ✔✔A criterion used by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine
whether services provided to nonpublic school students benefit children and not a
particular school or religion.
✔✔sunshine laws - ✔✔Law requiring agency meetings and decision-making process to
be open to the public. One way of making agencies more accountable to Congress and
the public.
✔✔1st Amendment - ✔✔Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition
✔✔Civil Rights Act of 1964 - ✔✔1964; banned discrimination in public accommodations,
prohibited discrimination in any federally assisted program, outlawed discrimination in
most employment; enlarged federal powers to protect voting rights and to speed school
desegregation; this and the voting rights act helped to give African-Americans equality
on paper, and more federally-protected power so that social equality was a more
realistic goal
✔✔Lau v. Nichols (1974) - ✔✔If a substantial number of non-English speaking students
reside in the district, the district must provide for these students with classes in English.
✔✔Castaneda v. Pickard - ✔✔1981 - set the standard for the courts in examining
programs for LEP students -- accountability for ESL programs
1. pedgaogically sound plan for LEP students
2. qualified staff to implement plan
3. system established to evaluate the program
** doesn't require bilingual education
, ✔✔Equal Access Act of 1984 - ✔✔Public schools cannot deny the use of their facilities
for any religious, political, or philosophical reasons if the school has created a "limited
open forum".
✔✔Title IX - ✔✔No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance
✔✔Equal Protection Clause - ✔✔14th amendment clause that prohibits states from
denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination
✔✔Tort Liability - ✔✔The legal requirement that a person responsible, or at fault, shall
pay for the damages and injuries caused
✔✔Negligence Tort Liability - ✔✔Defendant had duty to manufacture a reasonably safe
product/was in the business of selling or manufacturing product
That duty was breached
Breach of duty caused plaintiff's injury (product reached plaintiff in same condition)
Foreseeable that defect would cause injury
Plaintiff has property or physical damages
✔✔Defamation (Tort Law) - ✔✔Employers can be liable for defamation when giving
false/unfavorable references about a former employee
✔✔intentional tort - ✔✔tort in which the defendant means to commit the injurious act
✔✔False Imprisonment (Intentional Tort) - ✔✔Intentional detention of person without
that persons consent (Civil side of kidnapping)
✔✔Procedural Safeguards in IDEA - ✔✔The opportunity for parents to review their
child's full educational records; full parent participation in identification and IEP team
meetings; parent involvement in placement decisions; Prior Written Notice; the right of
parents to request independent educational evaluations at public expense; Notice of
Procedural Safeguards; Resolution Process; and objective mediation funded by the
state education agency and impartial Due Process Hearings
✔✔ADA Amendments Act of 2008 - ✔✔Retains the basic definition of "disability" under
the ADA. However, it expands the definition of "major life activities" by including two lists
of activities: The first list includes Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
recognized activities such as walking and some not-specifically recognized EEOC
activities such as bending, communicating, and reading. The second list includes major
bodily functions. In short, this Act stresses that the definition of disability should be
interpreted in favor of broad coverage of individuals to maximum extent permitted by the
terms of the ADA.
