On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, President Trump issued several Executive Orders targeting various elements of his policy agenda. Below, we discuss orders that aim to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability under Title...more
We saw a flurry of activity this week from the Supreme Court, with rulings that employers and educational institutions should be aware of. Specifically, the Supreme Court ruled in the Trump Administrations’ favor on several...more
4/14/2025
/ Appeals ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS ,
Title IX ,
Trump Administration
It was another big week for the Department of Education, with President Trump signing an Executive Order on Thursday instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take actions to “close” the Department. President Trump’s...more
3/24/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
OCR ,
Student Loans ,
Title VI ,
Trump Administration
We reported last week that the pace of executive orders coming from the new presidential administration had begun to slow. While, overall, the rate does still appear to be slowing, this week has been a notable one....more
3/11/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Department of Education ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Harassment ,
NLRB ,
OCR ,
Title IX ,
Title VI ,
Trump Administration
Each week as the new presidential administration takes shape, we get a clearer picture of how its priorities will affect federal agencies, and how those changes will affect the employers and educational institutions that...more
2/19/2025
/ Colleges ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
NLRB ,
OCR ,
Student Athletes ,
Title IX ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
It is no secret that whenever there is a change in the Oval Office it is common for the incoming administration to implement quick and widespread changes to effectuate campaign promises. Indeed, in modern times, newly elected...more
1/31/2025
/ Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Gender Identity ,
NLRB ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
Happy New Year! Several Illinois laws related to schools became effective January 1, 2025, and our team at Franczek P.C. has compiled them in its new School Law Legislative Update, focused on new laws in effect in 2025. A PDF...more
1/6/2025
/ Disabled Children ,
Educational Institutions ,
Illinois ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Safety Standards ,
School Boards ,
School Districts ,
Special Education ,
State and Local Government ,
Student Athletes ,
Students
On November 7, 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) that reminds schools of their Title VI obligations to provide all students with a learning environment...more
We previously wrote about Public Act 102-0543, which required the Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) to collect and report student sexual orientation, gender, and sex data. ISBE postponed implementation of the Act in...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a deaf student in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, 143 S. Ct. 81 (U.S. 2022), where the Court held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) exhaustion...more
3/24/2023
/ Administrative Remedies ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Damages ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Due Process ,
Educational Institutions ,
Exhaustion Doctrine ,
Fry v Napoleon Community Schools ,
IDEA ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
Perez v Sturgis Public Schools ,
Public Schools ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 504 ,
Special Education ,
Students
n January 31, 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) released a fact sheet clarifying that diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) training and similar activities are generally consistent with...more
The Illinois Public Access Counselor (PAC) recently issued a binding decision, PAC 22-012, regarding the Open Meetings Act (OMA), finding that a board of education’s closed session discussions violated the OMA at separate...more
Over the past year, the Illinois Legislature has amended the School Code to add numerous requirements aimed to address sexual abuse prevention and response in schools. Known as Faith’s Law and Erin’s Law, the amendments...more
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently announced a resolution agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District largely addressing issues related to OCR’s finding that the District...more
5/17/2022
/ California ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) ,
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OCR ,
Public Schools ,
Remote Learning ,
Section 504 ,
Special Education ,
Students
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced its intent to amend the regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to “strengthen and protect rights for students with disabilities.” While the...more
5/17/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Education ,
Disabilities ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Educational Institutions ,
OCR ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Section 504 ,
Students
In Houston Community College System v. Wilson, the United States Supreme Court held that a public body’s verbal censure of a fellow board member did not violate the board member’s First Amendment rights. The censure followed...more
4/6/2022
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Board of Trustees ,
Censures ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Open Meetings Act ,
Public Entities ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Standing
The Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) has announced that it is postponing its implementation of Public Act 102-0543, which requires ISBE to collect and report student sexual orientation, gender, and sex data. As a...more
3/11/2022
/ Data Collection ,
Data Reporting ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender Identity ,
ISBE ,
LGBTQ ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Student Privacy ,
Students ,
Transgender