LK Education Bulletin

Last week a Nashville jury awarded a former employee of the Metro Nashville Public Schools $1.5 million in an employment lawsuit.  The employee claimed that she was fired in retaliation for a claim of sexual harassment that she made against another employee.  The case was originally dismissed but the United States Supreme Court reversed and sent the case back for trial.  Take a minute to read the article below.

This will probably be my last post for a few days.  I start a two week trial tomorrow. 

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101260343

As promised I have now posted a summary of the Tennessee First to The Top Act of 2010 which was passed last week during a special session of Tennessee Legislature. The document is located in the LK University "articles" section of this webpage and is entitled "Summary of SB 7005, Final Bill." Please take a look at this important piece of legislation that will affect the way that teachers and principals are evaluated and the procedure for dismissal of a tenured teacher. I am also attaching a link to this morning's article in the Tennessean which includes a link to a copy the state's Race to The Top application. The Tennessean reports that the state can expect to receive between $150 million to $250 million.

http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2010/tn-race-to-the-top-application-released/

I just received an e-mail from the General Counsel to the State Board of Education, Christy Ballard, regarding the Revised Tennessee Special Education Regulations which are effective as of January 18, 2010. I have included a copy of the regulations under the LK University  "articles" section of this webpage for your review. Please note that there is a new section: 0520-01-09-.23 ISOLATION AND RESTRAINT FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES. Please take a look at these revised regulations and forward the information in this post to your special education directors and teachers. Feel free to send them a link to the site itself.

I am currently doing some research about social networking for a program I am going to present at the TSBA Employment Law program in March.  While I was doing this I came across an article entitled "Teachers Guide to Using Facebook."  I have read through the article and it has some very informative information and discusses ways that teachers can use Facebook without jeopardizing their job or license.  I have included a link to the article with this post.  Take a look at this and think about using some of these strategies.  Have a great Tuesday.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16957158/Teachers-Guide-to-Using-Facebook-Read-Fullscreen

The Tennessee Legislature passed a bill on Friday that will affect how teachers and principals are evaluated.  The bill also affects dismissal proceedings for tenured teachers.  Below is a link to the Tennessean's article about the Bill.  Early next week our office will have a summary of the bill which I will post on this site for your review.  Have a great weekend. 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100116/NEWS0201/1160337/TN+schools+one+step+closer+to+grant