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Biography
An accomplished clinical teacher and litigator, William Koski (PhD ’03) is the founder and director of the law school’s Youth and Education Law Project (YELP). He has also taught multidisciplinary graduate seminars and courses in educational law and policy.
Professor Koski and YELP have represented hundreds of children, youth, and families in special education, student discipline, and other educational rights matters. Professor Koski has also served as lead counsel or co-counsel in several path-breaking complex school reform litigations including Robles-Wong v. California, that sought to reform the public school finance system in the state; Emma C. v. Eastin, that has restructured the special education service delivery system in a Bay Area school district and aims to reform the California Department of Education’s special education monitoring system; Smith v. Berkeley Unified School District, that successfully reformed the school discipline policies in Berkeley, CA; and Stephen C. v. Bureau of Indian Education, that seeks to hold the federal Bureau of Indian Education accountable for their failure to provide children in the Havasupai Native American tribe in Arizona with an adequate and equitable education.
Reflecting his multidisciplinary background as a lawyer and social scientist, Professor Koski’s scholarly work focuses on the related issues of educational accountability, equity and adequacy; the politics of educational policy reform; teacher employment policies; and judicial decision-making in educational policy reform litigation.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2001, Professor Koski was a lecturer in law at Stanford and a supervising attorney at the law school’s East Palo Alto Community Law Project. He was also an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and then Alden, Aronovsky & Sax.
Professor Koski has an appointment (by courtesy) with the Stanford School of Education.
Professor Koski and YELP have represented hundreds of children, youth, and families in special education, student discipline, and other educational rights matters. Professor Koski has also served as lead counsel or co-counsel in several path-breaking complex school reform litigations including Robles-Wong v. California, that sought to reform the public school finance system in the state; Emma C. v. Eastin, that has restructured the special education service delivery system in a Bay Area school district and aims to reform the California Department of Education’s special education monitoring system; Smith v. Berkeley Unified School District, that successfully reformed the school discipline policies in Berkeley, CA; and Stephen C. v. Bureau of Indian Education, that seeks to hold the federal Bureau of Indian Education accountable for their failure to provide children in the Havasupai Native American tribe in Arizona with an adequate and equitable education.
Reflecting his multidisciplinary background as a lawyer and social scientist, Professor Koski’s scholarly work focuses on the related issues of educational accountability, equity and adequacy; the politics of educational policy reform; teacher employment policies; and judicial decision-making in educational policy reform litigation.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2001, Professor Koski was a lecturer in law at Stanford and a supervising attorney at the law school’s East Palo Alto Community Law Project. He was also an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and then Alden, Aronovsky & Sax.
Professor Koski has an appointment (by courtesy) with the Stanford School of Education.
Other titles
Professor (Teaching), Stanford Law School
Professor (Teaching) (By courtesy), Graduate School of Education
Program affiliations
Stanford Accelerator for Learning
Research interests
Leadership and Organization | Legal Issues | Special Education
Recent publications
Koski, W. S. (2017). BEYOND DOLLARS? THE PROMISES AND PITFALLS OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS LITIGATION. COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW, 117(7), 1897–1931.
Koski, W. S., & Horng, E. L. (2014). Keeping Sight of the Forest Through the Trees: Response to "Collective Bargaining, Transfer Rights, and Disadvantaged Schools". EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS, 36(1), 112–119.
Koski, W. S., & Horng, E. L. (2007). FACILITATING THE TEACHER QUALITY GAP? COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS, TEACHER HIRING AND TRANSFER RULES, AND TEACHER ASSIGNMENT AMONG SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA. EDUCATION FINANCE AND POLICY, 2(3), 262–300.
