Educational Malpractice

Reasons for Judicial Rejection of Educational Malpractice Claims

Courts generally reject educational malpractice claims for one of three reasons. First, it is very difficult to define the duty to educate, a necessary predicate for pursuing a cause of action. In general, the courts have not recognized claims of malpractice that rest on an assertion of the general inadequacy in educational programs, although they have recognized charges for breach of contract against educational institutions when claims are pleaded with particularity. Second, causation is also difficult to determine. In fact, it is almost impossible to identify all of the reasons why students fail to achieve specified levels of education; the causes could be “physical, neurological, emotional, cultural [or] environmental (Peter W. v. San Francisco Unified School District, 1976, p. 861). Further, the persons responsible for the failure to educate could include teachers, parents, or students themselves. Thus, the courts have acknowledged the difficulty of determining whether officials or other parties, including the students, may have caused the bad educational outcomes. Third, some courts have indicated a strong reluctance to insert themselves into such a contentious issue of public policy as the quality of education. The courts almost universally express strong public policy concerns as a basis for rejecting causes of action for educational malpractice against colleges and universities. The judiciary has also expressed the fear that recognizing a cause of action for educational malpractice would open a floodgate of litigation, particularly at the level of primary and secondary schools, but also in higher education.

Educational Malpractice Claims against Public Schools

Although numerous cases have been decided in the context of elementary and secondary education, [Page 144]two leading suits that have been influential in setting a strong judicial trend against recognizing a cause of action for educational malpractice in higher education are worth reviewing.

In Peter W. v. San Francisco Unified School District (1976), a high school graduate sued his school board for failing to educate him properly during the 12 years he attended its schools. The student claimed, for example, that he could only read at the fifth-grade level and was unqualified for any kind of skilled job that required an ability to read and write.

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