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Massachusetts Law About Education

Massachusetts Laws

MGL c.69 Department of Education
MGL c.70 State Aid for Public Schools
MGL c.71 Public Schools
MGL c.71, s.69 National Flags and Pledge of Allegiance
MGL c.71A Bilingual Education
MGL c.71B Students with Special Needs
MGL c.72 School Registration
MGL c.76 School Attendance
MGL c.271, s.50 Selling Papers or Taking Exams for Another
Old Deluder Satan law: established mandatory public education in Massachusetts (1647)

Massachusetts Regulations

603 CMR: Education

Agency

Select Case Law

Opinion of the Justices to the Governor, 372 Mass. 874 (1977) Public school teachers and students can not be disciplined for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) Requiring students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance violates First Amendment rights.

Other Web Sources

Background Record Check (BRC) Regulations and Policies, Dept. of Early Education and Care. The regulations require a review of both the criminal history (CORI) and the DSS background of all individuals age 15 and over who have the potential for unsupervised contact with children.

Beyond Financial Aid: A Guide to Extra Help for Low-Income Adult Students, Produced by Deborah Harris, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and Ruthie Liberman, Crittenton Women’s Union. "Public programs can offer support, but sometimes the rules about who is eligible for public benefits, such as housing assistance, food stamps, or unemployment insurance, are different for students. This booklet will help you determine which public benefits may be available to you and your family while you go to school."

Erasing Hate: A Guide to Your Civil Rights in School, Mass. Attorney General. This is an archived version of a valuable page on school civil rights put together by the former Attorney General.

Homeschooling 101: Massachusetts homeschooling law, “Navigating the legal requirements for homeschooling in Massachusetts can be perplexing at first, but ultimately most homeschoolers find it to be relatively simple. Homeschoolers [can] acquaint themselves with the law. In Massachusetts that means reading GL Ch. 76, Sec. 1, as well as two court cases: Charles and Brunelle.” This site suggests that “…these provide guidelines for homeschool regulation in Massachusetts.”

The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act: Education Rights for Homeless Youth, Children's Law Center. Explains educational rights of homeless children. ""McKinney" is a federal law that requires all homeless youth to have access to the same free and appropriate public education that is provided to all other children. McKinney states that homelessness alone is not a sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment."

Recreational Camps, Mass. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Includes information both for and about camps, such as Camp Regulations, Information about Recreational Camps in Massachusetts: Questions and Answers for Parents, and Memo to Boards of Health and Code Enforcement Agencies Medication at Recreational Camps for Children.

School Suspension and Expulsion, Children's Law Center. Explains the legal rights of a student who is suspended or expelled.

Students with Comfort Care/Do Not Resuscitate Orders, Mass. Dept. of Education, November 30, 2004. "In response to requests from several Massachusetts school districts, the following guidelines for the care of students with Comfort Care/Do Not Resuscitate Orders were developed in consultation with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) Office of Emergency Medicine and the MDPH Legal Office. We hope these guidelines will assist you." See Also: Comfort Care/Do Not Resuscitate Protocol.