- Phone:
- (812) 856-8375
- Email:
- deckerjr@iu.edu
ED 4256
ED 4256
Education
- Stanford University A.B. 1984
- Stanford University J.D. 1987
Biography
Janet R. Decker is a Professor of Education Law and Program Coordinator of Education Policy and Law. In this role, I also help coordinate the Education Law Certificate, Undergrad Education Policy Minor, J.D. Education Policy Minor, Ed.D. Education Law Minor, Ph.D. Education Law Minor, and Martha McCarthy Education Law and Policy Institute.
Her research centers on 1) special education legal and policy issues and 2) legal literacy of school employees. She has published five books: The Legal Rights of School Leaders, Teachers, and Students, 9th ed. (with Eckes, 2026); The Legal Rights of School Leaders, Teachers, and Students, 8th ed. (with McCarthy & Eckes, 2019); How to Prevent Special Education Litigation: Eight Legal Lesson Plans (with Umpstead, Brady, Schimmel, & Militello, 2015); The Principal's Legal Handbook (edited with Lewis, Shaver, Blankenship-Knox, & Paige, 2017); and A Guide to Special Education Law (edited with Shaver, 2017). Her research has also appeared in Journal of Disability Policy Studies, American Journal of Education, West’s Education Law Reporter, Peabody Journal of Education, Teaching Exceptional Children, and Utah Law Review, among other publication outlets.
As a legal columnist for NPA’s Principal Leadership and a contributor to Understood’s Expert Network, Decker strives to ensure legal information is accessible by providing public scholarship. She became interested in education law when she was a teacher and behavioral consultant for students with autism. Discovering that systemic inequities often led to problematic litigation motivated her to earn a J.D. from IU's Maurer School of Law and Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies from IU's School of Education. She also worked at Maurer's Family and Children Mediation Clinic, IU’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, and the University of Cincinnati. She was elected to the Education Law Association’s Board of Directors (2016-19) and continue to serve on a variety of national editorial boards and committees.
Currently, Decler teaches these school law courses to undergraduate, certificate, master's, doctoral, and law students: A308, A608/B658, and A675/B658. In 2022, she was inducted into IU’s Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) and has received teaching awards including IU’s Trustees Teaching Award (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021) and Burton W. Gorman Distinguished Teaching Award (2025). She is accepting Ph.D. student advisees with research interests in P-12 education law and policy.