The deck headline on this popular article, which appeared in the Feb. 26 issue, reads, “Requiring school uniforms may be less legally fraught than implementing a school dress code.”

Underwood is the Susan Engeleiter Professor of Education Law, Policy and Practice, and the former dean of the School of Education.

Underwood explains in this column how more public schools are adopting school uniform policies, and notes that most of these schools have a high percent of low-income students.

“How is this possible in a climate where there is so much litigation and publicity regarding lawsuits about students’ rights to express themselves through dress — particularly T-shirts?” Underwood writes.

Underwood goes on to explain the difference between dress codes and uniforms. She also discusses the value of free expression and analyzes uniform policies that exist.

Underwood concludes this column by explaining: “Other difficult aspects of implementing a uniform policy include making sure you have an exemption for religious dress and providing access to uniforms for homeless and economically disadvantaged students. And of course, there is the question of whether uniforms foster or discourage student growth. But the legal hurdles are not as high as you might think, and, in fact, dress codes are often more difficult to implement legally than content- and viewpoint-neutral uniform policies.”

But make sure and read her entire column here to learn much more about this nuanced topic.

And check out all of Kappan magazine’s Top 10 most popular stories from 2018 list on this Kappanonline.org web page.