Speakers
Keynote Speaker
GERALD ZAHORCHAK is the secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Dr. Zahorchak has managed an unprecedented expenditure of educational state funding, including $200 million in Accountability Block Grants that were used for tutoring, math and literacy coaching, the expansion of full-day kindergarten, and the creation of prekindergarten classes. He has led the development of Pennsylvania's Inspired Leadership Initiative to develop and support the state's educational leaders. He has directed Pennsylvania's leading role with the Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, an initiative of the Council for Chief State School Officers. He has also played a prominent role in the Mid-Atlantic states' Laboratory for Student Success, which is charting the way for inspired leadership in six states.
Dr. Zahorchak received his doctorate from Penn State, a master's degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor's degree from Saint Francis University.
Other Presenters
ROBERT ABRAHAM is a staff attorney for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, a labor organization representing approximately 150,000 teachers and support personnel throughout the state. In this capacity he represents members and locals in legal matters regarding labor and employment. He is active in the fight to maintain and improve public education.
Before joining the PSEA, Mr. Abraham served as a high school English teacher and wrestling coach. He earned an undergraduate degree at Penn State, a master’s degree in education at the University of Pittsburgh, and a law degree at Duquesne University.
Mr. Abraham serves on the board of Outreach Teen and Family Services (in Mt. Lebanon), an organization devoted to providing counseling to troubled teens and their families. He previously served on the board of the Middle East Forum, an advocacy group composed of Arab Americans, Jewish Americans, and others devoted to promoting a peaceful resolution to Middle East conflicts. He is a member of the ACLU and People for the American Way.
Download the Summary of School Code Discharge Cases (PDF) handout
Download the School Code Causes for Dismissal (PDF) handout
Download the Legal Advice to Professional Employees (PDF) handout
Download the Personnel Issues in Education PowerPoint Presentation
DAVID ANDREWS has more than thirty years of experience in education law. His law firm, Andrews and Beard, concentrates on education law and represents more than eighty school
districts across Pennsylvania.
Mr. Andrews, a graduate of the Penn State Dickinson School of Law, is licensed before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal district courts for the Western District and Middle District of Pennsylvania, as well as the Pennsylvania courts.
Mr. Andrews is a past president of the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors Association of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and regularly lectures at the statewide conferences of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. He has handled several student constitutional rights issues before the federal courts and recently represented school districts on such issues as dissemination of religious literature in the schools and the offering of prayer at school events.
DOROTHY BOLLINGER is an associate at Fox Rothschild LLP. Her practice focuses on legal issues regarding the Internet, computers, information technology, and intellectual
property. Dr. Bollinger frequently provides training and presents on these issues, at the national, state, and local levels. She is the Pennsylvania representative to the
International Technology Law Association (iTechLaw), and she serves as an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, where she teaches the courses Cyberlaw
and Policy: Practical Applications in Organizational Settings and Cyberprivacy in the Networked World. She earned her J.D. degree at Temple University, a doctorate in education at
Lehigh University, and a master’s degree at Penn State.
Dr. Bollinger has leveraged her education and work experience with software and computers into her legal practice. Before entering the legal field she was a superintendent of schools and an administrator and teacher in schools, colleges, and universities. While attending law school at Temple she worked full-time in the University Counsel’s Office.
PRESTON GREEN is an associate professor of education and law in Penn State’s College of Education and Dickinson School of Law. He has helped develop Penn State's joint
degree program in law and education. Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Green was a member of the College of Education faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He holds a
bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia, a J.D. degree from Columbia University, and a doctorate from Columbia University's Teachers College.
Dr. Green's research focuses on the legal issues surrounding school choice and educational access. He is the co-author of Charter Schools and the Law: Establishing New Legal Relationships (with Julie Mead) and the textbook Financing Education Systems (with Bruce Baker and Craig Richards). He has served as a consultant for plaintiffs in Montoy v. Kansas, a case in which the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the school finance system of Kansas violated the state constitution. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania State Charter School Appeal Board (CAB), which hears appeals on school board decisions to deny charter applications or revoke charters.
KEVIN MCKENNA represents numerous charter schools across Pennsylvania. Under his guidance the charter school clients of Latsha Davis Yohe & McKenna, P.C., have had
continuing success in cases before the Pennsylvania State Charter School Appeal Board, the Courts of Common Pleas, the Commonwealth Court, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Mr.
McKenna has represented charter schools in cases of first impression before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and is general counsel for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter
Schools.
Mr. McKenna also practices environmental (Superfund and toxic tort) litigation, sports law, workers' compensation defense, premises liability defense, and insurance defense. He regularly speaks at educational forums. He received bachelor's and J.D. degrees from Villanova University.
Download the Charter Schools Outline (PDF) handout
JULIE MEAD is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she earned a
doctorate in educational administration. Dr. Mead’s research focuses on two strands of inquiry. First, she researches issues related to disability law, particularly the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its implementation in schools. Her second research strand examines school choice initiatives (e.g., the Milwaukee Parental
Choice Program, charter school legislation, and statewide open enrollment). This body of research reflects an interest in the unique legal issues and questions evolving in those
contexts (e.g., special education delivery, establishment and free exercise of religion challenges, student rights, and discrimination).
LANCE POTTER is an adjunct professor of educational leadership at Penn State. Dr. Potter received a law degree from Georgetown University and practiced law in Honolulu for
three years. He later became a teacher and taught in Oregon for two years and at an international school in Thailand for five years.
From Thailand, Dr. Potter came to Penn State to study educational leadership, earning his doctorate in 2007. His studies were focused on education law issues. Dr. Potter has written on search and seizure, No Child Left Behind, the legal dimensions of data-driven decision making, and religion. His dissertation, "The Legitimate Pedagogical Interest of Teaching Alternatives to Evolution in Public Schools," examined the role religion plays in American education and the distinction the courts make between teaching religion and teaching "about" religion in the context of science education about evolution.
JACQUELINE STEFKOVICH is associate dean for graduate studies, research, and faculty development at Penn State. Previously, Dr. Stefkovich was a professor in the Department of
Education Policy Studies at Penn State, where she taught courses related to school law—including The Law and Education, Personnel Management and Contract Administration, and The
Teacher and the Law—and an advanced seminar in education law. She writes extensively on areas related to law and education, especially issues addressing public school students'
Fourth Amendment rights (search and seizure) under the U.S. Constitution.
Dr. Stefkovich has published a number of articles related to ethics and educational leadership. These articles and a recent book, Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas, are the result of ten years of collaborative research and teaching with her co-author, Joan Shapiro, professor at Temple University.
Dr. Stefkovich received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Duquesne University, a master's degree in counseling from the University of Connecticut, a certificate in school psychology from Temple University, a doctorate in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University, and a J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
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