This course is a study of the legal framework within which public education operates, beginning with an analysis of how to safeguard and promote the values of democracy, individual freedom and responsibility, equity, cultural responsiveness, social justice, community, and diversity. This analysis will then explain how to confront and alter institutional biases of student marginalization, deficit-based schooling, and low expectations associated with race, class, culture and language, gender and sexual orientation, and disability or special status. Besides addressing specific topics, such as, church-state relations, state agencies, local school boards, financing education, tort liability, teacher-personnel administration, the Taylor Law, tenure, desegregation, and the constitutional rights and freedoms of students, you will learn how to effectively know, comply with, and help the school community understand local, state, and federal laws, rights, policies, and regulations so as to promote student success. Finally, the course will show how you can effectively manage governance processes and internal and external politics toward achieving the school's mission and vision. (PSEL Standards 2d, 3h, 3e, and 9h)