Trenton School The environment at School1, were I am employed revolves around the many different standards of behavior and conduct. While much of this conduct is derived by local customs and habits, the imposing of law and order also significantly contributes to what is and what is not allowed. The purpose of this essay is to explore the relationship with both state and federal laws and School 1. This essay will explore the law and its applications to my school by examining key points and relevant issues related to these interactions.

Background Of Trenton School District

It is important to understand the starting point of this discussion in order to see the bigger influences that state and local governments have on the school district. According to the districts website, the mission of this school district is " All students will graduate with a vision for their futures, motivated to learn continually and prepared to succeed in their choice of college or career." It is interesting to note that this mission does not include any statement about improving the learning outcomes of the students, rather graduation, regardless of how or what is the standard.

Trenton School District has, within its human resources department established a division of law to serve as a central point to address the issues of both state and federal legislation. The Division of Law provides legal advice to the Superintendent of schools, central office, school-based administrators, employees and parents in many different legal areas. These areas include labor relations, negotiations, special education, student discipline, subpoenas, tort notices and all other school law issues. According to its policies the Division of Law refers to New Jersey Statutes Annotated 18a (NJSA 18) and New Jersey Administrative Code 6 (NJAC 6) as the legal authorities to their policies.

NJSA 18A and NJAC6

New Jersey Statute 18A deals with education for the state of New Jersey. The information presented online in this document is written in a legislative language...

This document provides definitions for terms, lists financial arrangements the state has with its school districts, mandates on teacher and administrator qualifications, privacy issues, hazing issues, actions prohibited by institutions of higher education, and much more.
The New Jersey Administrative Code is a collection of the rules and regulations that were created by the state government. The New Jersey Office of Administrative Law (OAL) is the overseeing body for this code. Title 6 and 6a deal with the rules surrounding the state's education system. This code lays out the important information that administrators need to be familiar with to fully grasp the large bureaucracy that is associated with the New Jersey educational system. Included in this code are bylaws for the state board of education, standards and assessments, rules on charter schools, special education programs, appeals and disputes and many more.

Federal Laws Imposed on the State Educational System

The United States federal education legislation is amazingly large and complex. Title 20 of the United States Code is the baseline rulebook, however, thousands of pages of federal legislation have been added to this immense code by different departments of the federal government. Certain federal laws to consider are the Early Childhood Education Act, Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, the TEACH Act, the Bilingual Educational Act, the National Defense Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act and many more. It is apperant that their exists a complex web of federal laws that are most likely impossible to navigate without the help and assistance of a lawyer or legal advisors. It is quite amazing that scope and depth of the micromanagement efforts that the federal government has imposed on states and local educational systems.

Federal vs. State

Trenton, New Jersey is regulated under the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Third Circuit…