Pessin Katz Law, P.A. (PK Law) Education and Labor Attorney Leslie Stellman, recently made significant writing contributions to the text Religion and Law in Public Schools: History, Philosophy, Trends; Educational Practices; The Trump Administration—Looking Ahead. The book, published by The Education Law Association, is the first on the subject. Les co-authored the chapter entitled “The ‘Tebow’ Effect: Religious Families’ Demands for Public School Services – Where Is It Heading?” in which he discusses the timely issue of nonpublic school students’ use of public school services. Les also contributed an essay, “Religion and Public Schools Under a Donald Trump Presidency,” to the last chapter in the text, “The Trump Administration – Looking Ahead.”
The text is an informative and dynamic series of articles, essays, and discussion questions from nearly 30 authors, concerning religion in public primary/secondary schools and universities. The text considers the subject’s background, the development of legal precedent, as well as contemporary and future issues of educational administration, in three sections: History, Philosophy, and Trends; Educational Practices; and The Trump Administration – Looking Ahead. In this timely third section, the authors look ahead and candidly express their personal views about potential changes to issues of religion and law in public schools under the Trump administration.
Les Stellman has over 40 years of experience as an education law, labor and employment attorney. A labor lawyer by training, early in his labor law career, he appeared regularly before the National Labor Relations Board and participated in dozens of arbitration proceedings, hearings before the NLRB, and served as chief negotiator in collective bargaining. Becoming more involved in the public sector, in the 80s Les began to focus his career on education law. Throughout his career he has represented the majority of Maryland’s school districts and colleges and universities in virtually every type of education related litigation ranging from employment and personnel matters to school construction, property, land use, and real estate law, special education law, the laws governing disability rights including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, student discipline, speech, religion, and other constitutional rights asserted by students and school employees, student records law (FERPA) compliance, and purchasing and procurement. He has appeared in many cases before local boards of education, the Maryland State Board of Education, and the State Higher Education Labor Relations Board (“SHELRB”).
Furthering establishing himself as a leader in the education and labor law sector, Mr. Stellman has taught school law at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He has also authored and co-authored several publications on education law including Teachers and the Law; School Law: What Every Educator Should Know, Teachers and the Law and most recently Religion and Law in Public Schools: History, Philosophy, Trends and Education Administration The “Tebow” Effect: Religious Families’ Demands for Public School Services – Where is it Heading?; articles on education including Coping with Public School Employee Labor Relations: An Employer’s Perspective and The Top Ten Legal Issues Facing Community Colleges; and has served two terms on the national board of directors of NSBA’s Council of School Attorneys.
Les can be contacted at 410-339-6752 or lstellman@pklaw.com
