In October 2017, then-Deputy Director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan publicly announced the agency’s aim to increase workplace investigations “by four or five times” over concerns that employment of undocumented workers makes the United States a “magnet” for […]
School Safety Commission Report and DOE Withdrawal of Discipline Guidance: What Does It Mean for Schools?
December 21, 2018
The 180-page report of the Federal Commission on School Safety is out and garnering significant media attention. The U.S. Department of Education also announced this afternoon that, based on the Commission’s recommendation, it is withdrawing the 2014 Dear Colleague Letter on Nondiscriminatory Administration of […]
Updated February 27, 2020 With PERA’s full implementation on September 1, 2016, it is important to remember that all full-time probationary teachers who are first employed with a school district after a district’s PERA implementation date are subject to the new tenure […]
Illinois Attorney General Supports Right of the Public to Criticize Board Members at Public Meetings
December 18, 2018
In a recent nonbinding letter, the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor reportedly requested that public boards allow members of the public to speak about concerns with the conduct of specific board members. Boards and their members are not required to respond […]
Web Accessibility: OCR is Back, Is Your Website Ready?
December 5, 2018
As we mentioned in our article last month, the November 2018 version of the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Case Processing Manual (CPM), deleted a section that was added in March 2018 that allowed OCR to dismiss burdensome complaints by […]
Illinois Schools Have Discretion to Define the Instructional Day
December 5, 2018
Although months have passed since a new law addressing public education funding in Illinois was signed, confusion lingers over the impact of the law on an instructional day for students. Public Act 100-0465, or the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, […]
IL Appellate Court Upholds School District’s Use of “Unduly Burdensome” FOIA Exemption for “Fishing Expedition” Request
December 5, 2018
A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision provides welcome support to a school district or other public body faced with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that is more akin to a “fishing expedition” than a targeted request for documents. […]
USCIS Proposes Significant Changes to the H-1B Lottery Process
December 4, 2018
On December 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule which, if finalized after notice and comment, would significantly change the H-1B lottery process. These proposed changes further implement the 2017 Buy American Hire American […]