05.06.05

VCU Education Law Conference Kicks Off in Norfolk

By Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education
May 06, 2005

More than 160 educators, lawyers and school administrators traveled to Norfolk for the Third Virginia Commonwealth Education Law Conference, but for a short time they imagined themselves in Washington, D.C., seated vicariously on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States

Keynote speaker Rodney A. Smolla, dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, leads an exercise on presenting First Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, at the Third Virginia Commonwealth Education Law Conference in Norfolk. The conference was sponsored by the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute in VCU’s School of Education.

“Raise your right hand and repeat after me,” instructed Rodney A. Smolla as he led conference participants in a mock swearing-in ceremony as associate justices of the nation’s highest court. Smolla, dean of the University of Richmond School of Law and a keynote speaker at the conference, then transformed the hotel ballroom into a courtroom and himself into an attorney defending a hypothetical company accused of negligence in marketing a violent videogame that inspired a student to go on a killing spree in his school.

While the case was imaginary, the issue was real. “The question is does the First Amendment protect a disgusting and perverse game that glorifies and trains someone to massacre fellow students and administrators,” said Smolla, who has argued before many state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court, and authored award winning books on freedom of expression, including “Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial.”

After allowing conferees to interrupt his oral arguments several times, just as actual justices would, Smolla polled the mock justices for their opinion. An overwhelming majority ruled in favor of protecting the videogame manufacturer.

The real-world exercise set the stage for the three-day conference, which featured workshops and keynote speeches on dozens of hot-button legal issues affecting public education across the nation. The conference was co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute in Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Education, and LexisNexis.

Keynote speaker Thomas M. Jackson, president of the Virginia Board of Education, suggested states resolve conflicts with the No Child Left Behind Law through their congressional delegations.

In his keynote speech on the federal-state conflict over terms of the No Child Left Behind Act, Virginia Board of Education President Thomas M. Jackson suggested that states work through their congressional delegations to change the law, as Virginia is doing. School districts in Texas, Michigan and Vermont are suing the federal government because the law forces states to use their own money to carry out its mandates. Other states, such as Virginia, are requesting waiver exemptions.

 “I think we should pile the rocks and let other people throw them,” said Jackson. “[The congressional approach] sounds old fashioned, but you need to make sure you don’t make yourself look like you’re against change.”
Keynote speeches also were given by University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law Dean Elizabeth R. Parker and National School Boards Association Staff Attorney Thomas Hutton.

A wide range of issues were covered by the more than 40 workshops, including privacy concerns over video surveillance of classrooms and school buses, teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and controlling bullying and student threats.

More than 160 participants attended the conference at the Norfolk Marriot hotel. Presenters from 25 states addressed a wide range of legal issues affecting schools across the nation. (Photos by Mike Frontiero)

“This conference is about how we interact with the courts, especially the U.S. Supreme Court,” said William C. Bosher, Ph.D., dean of VCU’s School of Education. “It’s absolutely critical that we know how to do that.”
Participants praised the conference for covering a wide range of issues facing schools across the nation. “I looked at the topics and thought this would be particularly helpful in dealing with student discipline and disabilities issues,” said Nora Dunn, an assistant attorney representing the Lynchburg City School Board.

For more information about the conference, click here.

SOE News

• More News
• Contact
  
  Mike Frontiero
  News Editor/Public Relations Director
  mdfronti@vcu.edu
  804.827.2415
  P.O. Box 842020
  Richmond, Va. 23284-2020