The long-standing position of most state courts in the US has been that students are barred from bringing legal claims against teachers and schools for their "educational malpractice", "educational negligence" or "failure to educate" with respect to a student. The courts have adopted this position, in part because 1) identifying a clear standard or methodology of teaching has traditionally been difficult; and (2) public policy is best served by judges staying out of the business of overseeing the day-to-day process of education and the formulation of school policies and their implementation.
QUESTION: How does the doctrine operate and to what extent (if at all) has the doctrine been eroded or diluted by the state courts? In other words, should today's educators be aware that their conduct in the education process of a student may now be more closely examined, questioned and/ or attacked?
SUB QUESTIONS:
1) explain this doctrine barring claims for "educational malpractice"
2) identify and survey the states that have expressly addressed the doctrine
3) What kinds of claims against teachers generally fall under the doctrine?
4) Does the doctrine depend upon who the parites are- ie whether the school is private or public,; profit or non-profit?
5) Are there emerging methods of measuring a teacher's performance so that standards of care can be articulated in a courtroom?
6) What kinds of claims are generally not precluded by the doctrine?
7)Are there ways that a student/ plaintiff can successfully assert a claim against a school for "failure to educate"
8) Has there been any trend to erode the doctrine by the courts allowing suits that have in the past been barred?
9)What should educators know about the doctrine today?