Education Law

Mr. Woodring has significant experience at the highest levels of Education Law. He was the General Counsel for the Florida Department of Education for about five years, and was also the first General Counsel for the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees all the state universities. He is past chair of the Education Law Section of the Florida Bar, and also serves on the advisory committee for the National Association of Charter School Attorneys.

Education Law Cases We Handle

The Woodring Law Firm will handle cases involving: K-12 education and higher education; Florida school districts; community colleges (or state colleges as they are more commonly becoming known); the state universities; private colleges and universities; private schools; and charter schools. We will represent parents and students, private entities or governmental entities, depending on the nature of the case. We can represent parties before the U.S. Department of Education, local school boards, the State Board of Education, local boards of university trustees, the Board of Governors, the Commission on Independent Education, and the Education Practices Commission, among others.

Examples of the types of cases that we may handle within the educational context are: discipline cases, whether involving students, teachers, or school administrators; professional license cases involving teachers and administrators; contract and procurement cases, and bid protests involving school districts and universities; textbook adoption appeals; public records and government in the sunshine matters involving governmental entities; charter school applications and appeals; negotiation of charter school contracts; testing, funding, or admission matters; IDEA cases; Section 504 cases; discrimination and desegregation cases; collective bargaining and labor law matters; all constitutional matters involving public and private education, including defending ACLU First Amendment challenges.

Please look at the other pages about specific practice areas for more information about school choice, including charter schools and scholarships such as the McKay scholarships and tax credit scholarship, see the School Choice Law Page, and the Florida Charter School Law Page.

If you are a parent or a student, or a school or college or university administrator, instructor or teacher, or an educational vendor (or potential vendor), and have a case or legal concerns about an educational matter, we would like to discuss your potential case with you. Keep in mind that many deadlines in the educational context are short; if you are in doubt about a matter, please don’t delay in seeking advice.

Additionally, we are always particularly interested in helping further good education policy, so if you think you have a way to further good education policy, and would like our help, please let us know. See more on Good Education Policy.