Chalk and Gavel Podcast By Chris Thomas and Jamie Kudlats cover art

Chalk and Gavel

Chalk and Gavel

By: Chris Thomas and Jamie Kudlats
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Welcome to Chalk and Gavel, exploring how the law shapes education, one case at a time. Join education professors Chris Thomas and Jamie Kudlats as they demystify the complex, ever-changing, and fascinating world of school law. Both former teachers, Chris, a former school attorney, and Jamie, a former principal, draw upon their experiences to explore the stories at the intersection of law and education. If you're an educator, policymaker, parent, student, or someone just curious about education, Chalk and Gavel is here to help you understand how the courtroom is connected to the classroom.Chris Thomas and Jamie Kudlats
Episodes
  • 48 | Mahmoud v. Taylor and the Right to Opt Out
    Jul 15 2025

    Jamie and Chris return for the third episode on the Mahmoud v. Taylor case! This time, we break down the recent Supreme Court Decision that came out at the end of the term. It was an interesting decision made by the Court's conservative majority, adding another (ambiguous) layer to decades of parental rights and school curriculum case law. We also discuss the AJT v. Osseo Supreme Court decision that eliminates the higher bar that parents needed to sue under the ADA and Section 504.


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    Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ⁠ChalkandGavel.com⁠.


    We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk & Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel⁠


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    Keywords: Supreme Court, Mahmoud v. Taylor, Oral Argument, LGBTQ Inclusive Curriculum, Religion, Parental Rights, Richard Katskee


    #educationlaw #k12 #podcast #ChalkandGavel #SCOTUS #religionineducation #LGBTQ

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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • 47 | FERPA and Peer Grading
    Jul 1 2025

    What does the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, say about the practice of peer grading? When does something become an “educational record” protected under FERPA? Do you think the people who wrote FERPA knew we were going to call it 'FERPA'? Couldn’t they have come up with a better acronym? This is our first FERPA episode! This is the law that’s designed to protect the privacy of student records. So, what information is protected under FERPA, and what isn’t? Today’s case involves a parent who took issue with a teacher’s use of peer-grading, saying that it violated her children’s privacy and subjected them to unnecessary embarrassment. This is the Supreme Court case of Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo. We also discuss a recent decision out of the 5th Circuit that makes it more difficult to challenge the removal of books from a local library, at least in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.


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    Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ⁠ChalkandGavel.com⁠.


    We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk & Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel⁠


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    Keywords: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Education Records, Peer Grading, Libraries, Book Bans


    #educationlaw #k12 #podcast #ChalkandGavel #FERPA #StudentRights #BUZZKILL

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    44 mins
  • 46 | DEI and Injunction Junction
    Jun 17 2025

    Can the U.S. Department of Education require schools to stop all DEI programs and activities? What do they actually mean when they say “DEI?” Are you ready to go three rounds on the injunction junction? We’ve got a three-fer for you today. Three cases for the price of none! We’re covering how three courts are dealing with the Trump Administration’s education directives to curtail DEI programs and initiatives in schools. In our bell-ringer for Episode 39, we talked about a Dear Colleague Letter from the U.S. Department of Education that purported to “reiterate existing legal requirements” under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act regarding racial discrimination. That letter seemed to lump DEI efforts in with intentional discrimination. Well, we now have three different court decisions halting the enforcement of that letter, so let's dig in! We also discuss the Supreme Court's decision in the Oklahoma virtual religious charter school case. (Go back and listen to Episode 44; our guest, Dr. Martha McCarthy, totally called it!) It's an interesting one. Not every Supreme Court decision is exactly two sentences long!


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    Need some education law content for your courses or professional development? We have a Teaching Guide! You can check it out at our website, ⁠ChalkandGavel.com⁠.


    We'd also greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting Chalk & Gavel by becoming a subscriber on Patreon. Your support will help us continue to deliver the education law content you want to hear! ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/chalkandgavel⁠


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    Keywords: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Title VI, Racial Discrimination, U.S. Department of Education, the Trump Administration, Administrative Law, Oklahoma, Religion, Charter Schools


    #educationlaw #k12 #podcast #ChalkandGavel #DEI #Trump #InjunctionJunction

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    54 mins
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