Introduction

Law is an institution that consists of some legal frameworks to maintain law and order in the society and refrains from doing any wrong as well as punishes for the wrong done. There are various social and economic issues that are dependent to legal actions. School issues include one of these issues. Since children are the future of any society, it is the prime concern of the state to keep a check on the various issues at school that can be an impediment to healthy social and economic development of the country. However some of the important issues at school that demand the interference of law include, behavioral issues, health and safety issues, child protection as well as special educational needs and Sustainable development.

Behavioral issue

Behavior is one of the basic issues that the schools are facing. Behavior means the conduct of the students and their response to the teachers and rules and regulations made at school. Behavioral issues are directly related to the environment of the school. If there is strong control on the negative behavior of the students as well as the teachers, then the environment is peaceful and makes the education environment easy.

However, one of the behavioral issues also include truancy, which is not only restricted to a few schools or to a certain district of schools. This is a very common problem that every school all over the world faces. It not only spoils the temperament of the students who are regular at school but also slows the speed of the teacher’s lectures, as she/he has to give special attention to these students. Therefore, to control the attendance problem at schools, various schools have started revising their policies as well as legal measures are also initiated to guide such issues. Furthermore, law has also provided penalty notices for truancy under the Anti-Social Behavior Act 2003. (Edward and Malcolm, 2002)

Furthermore, few schools are face the abusive and aggressive behavior of the parents that becomes problematic. Parents should have confidence on the he administration of school and the role of teachers in controlling the behavior of their children. In the western countries the over protection given to the children spoils their behavior as they now use their rights in a negative way. Therefore, law also gives protection to limit and control the misconduct of the students as well as the abusive behavior of the parents. Therefore, parents are also guided via seminars and many other ways to cooperative with the administrative authorities of the academic institutions to control the behavior of their children. Moreover, LEAs “Legal Toolkit for Schools” provides legal remedies under the Education Act 1996. This provides a legal guideline to the parents in relation so behavioral issues that needs strong understanding and cooperation among both the parents and the teachers. (LEA’s 2002)

Moreover, according to the offences under the Public Order Act 1986 law also restricts the student to keep any harmful weapon, knife or any element with him/her at school that could harm him or any other student. In case a student is caught with any such thing will be liable for a criminal offence. Therefore, law provides protection and remedies for not only the abusive behavior of the parents but also to any offence done by the students with specific relation to the schools and educational institutions. For instance, Criminal Damage Act 1971, Criminal Justice Act 1988 that is related to common assault and Protection from Harassment Act 1997 etc. Apart from the behavior issue, other important issues are the health and safety where drug abuse is a major threat to the children at school, community based schools, the increasing role of religion in schools that develop internal conflicts among various ethnic and religious groups as well as many other small issues are arising at schools. However, the state law as well as the educational ministry of law is working to limit such issues.

Conflict between Federal and State Law

America consists of many States, therefore, state laws basically covers the school issues or other related educational issues of the existing schools in their respective states. However, the Federal law is the centralized law that is applicable to all with out any discrimination. For instance, the Federal law provides equality of education with out any discrimination to gender, race or ethnicity. At the same time the state law may differ to the Federal law in this regard and develop certain policies are into conflict to the state law. However what ever the situation and circumstances may be, the federal law supersedes the state law, as it is a law made for overall America that includes all its states and district schools. Therefore, the federal law creates a balance among the schools whose students are not much identified or are ethnic minorities. It regulates the process of education under the Equal Protection Clause on Status conscious states. Where the state law discriminates the various communities in regard to education policies. . (Zirkel, Volume 59 Number 4 December 2001/January 2002)

Moreover the private public schools also communicate with the state law authorities and make them accept their very policies. These policies vary from the admission to the scholarships of the students. Conflicts cannot be avoided completely but can be managed under a well-organized procedure. Both the state and federal law making bodies need to exchange information and build confidence to produce more balanced policies that reduce the risk of conflict in the basic working organs of the state. Therefore, the higher authorities need to be in communication to produce good and modernized policies so that the students and other agencies may learn and every educational institute implement a similar educational policy. This will help increasing the educational level with an easy access to all communities and all classes of the state.

Therefore, the federal law always supersedes the state law as it provides the basic framework and fundamental principles to legally control the educational institutions of USA. In other words the state constitution delegates various responsibilities to the legislative authorities in relation to control the various educational issues or other relates issues at schools. So the combination of the Federal system of Government along the fifty state systems of government produces four basic ingredients of a legal foundation for public schools. These include the constitutional law, statutory law, administrative law as well as the case law. (Kenneth E. Lane and Kathleen C. Cohn) So in this way the federal law supersedes the state law, as it is the sole controlling authority for the above-mentioned ingredients of the federal and state legislative system.