New York Times quotes professor on federal lawsuit

John Dayton, a professor in the department of lifelong education, administration and policy, was recently quoted in a New York Times article about a lawsuit stemming from an incident in a rural Idaho school.

Dayton, who specializes in educational administration and policy, spoke to the general legal terrain that must be navigated as part of the lawsuit. At issue is how much school administrators can be held responsible for bullying at a school; Dayton said courts have generally recognized that teachers and others cannot be everywhere all the time, but attitudes change when it's clear that a vulnerable group or category of students was not protected.

At issue is the case of a boy who was attacked in a locker room, and a $10 million federal civil suit accusing the Idaho school district and its administrators of failing to protect him.