Discrimination In Employment

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) makes it illegal to discrimination against employees and job applicants who are over the age of forty. Discrimination includes the hiring and firing of individuals due to age as well as differentiating salary, benefits, and job assignment because of age. All employers that have over 20 employees are obligated to follow this law. Smaller employers. When advertising job positions it is unlawful to post age preferences, unless the employer can prove that the job has an unique limitation that mandates a certain age. For instance in entertainment if a child actor is needed a sixty year old would not be qualified for the job. During the job application
process it is not against the law to ask for the employer to ask for the application date of birth, but employers need to be careful because knowing the age of the applicant could open the door for claims of age discrimination. The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 (OWBPA) is an amendment that has been added to the ADEA. This act ensures that employers cannot deny workers benefits due to age. The age of an employee can contribute to an increased cost in benefits to the employer especially with health and life insurance. This can cause employers to preferring younger employees. To ease this burden on employers they may offer lesser benefits to older workers in limited cases as long as the employer contributes the same amount to all employees (Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967).

Education and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Passed is 1964, Title V bans employers from discriminating based on race, color, or nationality if they receive federal funds. While this law applies to numerous governmental agencies it has specific ramifications for all public schools. Within a school administrators must not discriminate in terms of, “admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student treatment and services, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, vocational education, recreation, physical education, athletics, housing and employment” (Education and Title VI 2015). If a person feels they have been discriminated against they can report the offense to Office of Civil Rights that is ran conjunction with the Department of Education. The Office of Civil Rights is in charge of investigating and punishing agencies that violate Title VI. Once a report is filed, Title VI makes it illegal for a school district employee to retaliate against the person who made the compliant. Because of the large volume of institutions that receive Title VI, it is impossible for the Office of Civil Rights to investigate every claim made. This limitation is neutralized because they work to educate federally funded agencies to ensure that non-malicious acts do not accidentally occur. The Office of Civil Rights has helped rectify case that include school districts not providing appropriate services for limited English speaking students, districts differentiating funding for schools that have different racial makeups, and districts over assigning minority students to special education classes. These examples illustrate the need for districts to be diligent to not accidentally discriminate (Education and Title VI 2015).

Family and Medical Leave Act For employees one of the most important educational laws is the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Under this law an employee may take off of work for twelve weeks per year, unpaid, for a few, well define reasons. An employee may use the Family Medical Leave Act if they have serious illness that impacts their ability to work, if they have a relative that is sick and needs to be taken care of, if they need to take care of newborn child, if they recently adopted a child, or if they a family member that is in the military and is being deployed so they can manage their business affairs. In addition to these conditions, an employee may take off up to twenty six week if they are taking care of a family member in the military who was wounded in the line of
duty. If an employee utilizes the Family Medical Leave Act they do not have to fear losing their job. When they return, they must be given the same salary, an equivalent job, and maintain seniority. In addition to these perks, employers must contribute to the employees’ health insurance while the employee is on leave. It is important to note that not all employers are required to offer leave. Employers who have over fifty employees who are on contract at least twenty weeks with a year must follow the Family and Medical Leave Act. Employee must have worked at the job for at least twelve months before they have access to the leave. Employees who wish to utilize the law must give employers thirty days notice if possible (Family and Medical Leave Act 2016).

No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has defined a decade in education.
This act sought to ensure that there was accountability in education on the behalf of teachers and administrators through content testing. States were required to test all students in reading, mathematics, and science from grades 3 to 8 and 10 to 11. To ensure public accountability, aggregate test results were made public focusing on specific subgroups: low income, minority students, special education students, and non-English language learners. NCLB sought to make all students proficient in math and reading by 2014. Every year the states would set benchmarks for students to reach with the goal of eventual proficiency, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). States were allowed to apply for waivers if they felt they could not reach these benchmarks. In order to receive a waiver states had to prove that they had reformed academic standards, testing, or accountability systems for its employees, both teachers and administrators. These revisions specifically included making standards geared toward college and career readiness, recognition systems for high performing and low performing schools, and rubric based assessment for teachers and principals. By 2012 43 states were granted
waivers. If a school failed to meet AYP for two years in a row they were labeled for school improvement and had to create a plan detailing what corrective actions would be implemented. If a schools failed to meet AYP for four years then students would be allowed to opt out for a different school regardless of zoning restrictions and more serious restructuring plans were mandated. If a high number of schools in a district failed to meet AYP then the district then it had to make corrective actions. In 2015 NCLB was ended (NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND 2015).
TEACH Act Digital content has enriched the content of all classes, not restricted by the confined of a textbook, students can grow with real-world materials. This content is often copyrighted making education a full of legal landmines. The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002 (TEACH ACT) allows teachers to use online content without breaking restrictive copyright laws in the material is used appropriately. Before the TEACH Act educators and students were limited to materials broadcasted over a closed circuit. Not only are educators allowed to use digital content but the content maybe stored for later use. This Act is limited to public, non-profit institutions, which includes public schools. Distance education is the main focus of this Act. Copyright law was not friendly to distance learning because it could be reproduced and transmitted anywhere. As education evolves technologically, distance education is becoming more viable. Thusly, the need for loser copy right laws for distance education becomes more necessary. High schools that currently offer duel enrollment course in conjunction with state universities often use adjunct professors who rely on distance education technology to teach the class. Content does need to be altered due to copyright law making these classes possible and convenient for both the student and professor. Though this Act does solve many of the copyright issues, there are some limitations. Audio-visual pieces must be gained lawfully, unauthorized copies of documentaries are not allowable and the teacher maybe held liable for copyright infringement. The TEACH Act differentiates between performance art and dramatic works. Performance art which consist of art, ballet, and music may be shown in their entirety. Dramatic works, movies and television shows, may only be shown as long as necessary for their educational purpose (Ashley 2004).
Every Student Succeeds Act On December 15, 2015 the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law revising and erasing much of the No Child Left Behind Act. The purpose of ESSA was to return education control back to the states and limit the reach of the Federal government in the classroom. States will still be required to submit accountability plans to the Depart of Education were they will be reviewed by a panel. States will be allow to pick their own goals as long as they address graduation and proficiency rates among students. Based on these measures, states will have to identify and then perform interventions on schools that rate in the bottom five percent through the state. In addition if any school has a graduation rate of sixty-seven percent or lower the state will need to intervene. States will still need to test student in reading and math from grades 3 to 8 and once in 10th grade. States may also allow students to opt out of testing and may right the rules to do this if they wish. Every state must implement challenging standards, these standards may or may not be based on common core. This law also bar the US Secretary of Education from forcing or suggesting that states should implement Common Core Standards. Teacher evaluation will no longer have to be tied to student test scores though states may still choose to do this. School districts will longer have to only hire “Highly Qualifies Teachers.” A fund will be set up to encourage states to differentiate pay based upon any measure they choose. ESSA will take full effect during the 2017-2018 school year (Klein 2016).