EdLawConnect Blog

Newly introduced AB 219 seeks to amend Labor Code section 1720.3, relating to the definition of "public works."  Existing law defines "public works," for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages for public works projects, to include, among other things, the hauling of refuse from a public works site to an outside disposal location with respect to contracts involving any state ...

The use of social media by teachers and other school employees can have positive effects on the educational environment.  For example, social media can promote collaboration among teachers, and can provide an effective means of communication between teachers and parents.  However, educational employers have also found that access to social media during the workday can lead to decreased employee ...

Despite YouTube’s Popularity with School-Age Youth, Teachers Should Think Twice Before Asking Students to Upload Class Projects to YouTube

In a previous post, we discussed some of the legal issues associated with students uploading coursework on YouTube. This EdLawConnect entry continues that discussion.

Bullying-Related Concerns

Perhaps the most salient concern with students uploading their own ...

On September 28, 2014, Governor Brown signed into law SB 1174 (Lara), which will give voters an opportunity to rescind much of Proposition 227 (Prop 227), the 1998 initiative that replaced bilingual education with English immersion classes.  If passed, the new law will enable California’s public schools to provide multilingual instruction, granting more students access to valuable language skills and giving parents more choice over their children’s education.  In response to Governor Brown’s passage of SB 1174, Senator Ricardo Lara stated:

Despite YouTube’s Popularity with School-Age Youth, Teachers Should Think Twice Before Asking Students to Upload Class Projects to YouTube

Several studies have reported that YouTube is the most popular social media site among teenagers. Some studies and articles report teens and “tweens” prefer YouTube to both traditional television and other social networking sites.

In light of YouTube’s ...

The current measles outbreak in Southern California has underscored the importance of schools maintaining current and complete lists of students with immunization exemptions on file.

Last month a California Court of Appeal held that while electronic signatures are valid on employment arbitration agreements in California, if an employee disputes an electronic signature, the employer bears the burden of proving the employee electronically signed the document. (Ruiz v. Moss Brothers Auto Group (2014) 2014 WL 7335221.) This decision can guide K-12 school districts and community college ...

In a recent decision, Pittsburg Unified School District v. S.J. Amoroso Construction Co., Inc. (December 22, 2014), the California Court of Appeal affirmed that public agencies have the right to unilaterally declare a default under a construction contract and demand a distribution of securities retained by escrow.  The Court based its decision on Public Contract Code section 22300, which provides that once a public agency sends a proper notice of default, it has the right to withdraw securities held in an escrow retention account “immediately upon its own determination” if it determines that a contractor has defaulted on the construction agreement. The key issue confirmed by the Court is that a public agency may unilaterally determine that a contractor defaulted on its obligations under a construction agreement without judicial determination, and thus, may unilaterally withdraw retention proceeds from an escrow account.

ConnectEDU, a college and career advising startup that holds the personal information of millions of students, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2014. ConnectEDU developed college- and career-planning sites where students could create personal profiles. As a result, ConnectEDU held a considerable amount of personally identifiable information including students’ names, dates of birth ...

The California Labor Commissioner has posted a template  pursuant to the new sick leave law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Family Act of 2014. As explained in our , the new law applies to employees who work at least 30 hours per calendar year and are not provided with sick leave under a collective bargaining agreement.  A poster describing the sick leave rights is required under amended Labor Code section 247.