Biography

An accomplished clinical teacher and litigator, Bill Koski (PhD ’03) is the founder and director of the law school's Youth and Education Law Project. He and the students in the Law Project have represented hundreds of disadvantaged children and their families in educational equity, disability rights, and school reform matters. 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; and judicial decision-making in educational policy reform litigation. Professor Koski’s current research concentrates on the normative case for and policy implications of ensuring equality of educational opportunity in the current context of educational standards, adequacy, and accountability.

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.

Key Works

• William S. Koski and Rob Reich, When "Adequate" Isn't: The Retreat from Equality in Educational Law and Policy and Why it Matters, 56 Emory Law Journal 545.
• William S. Koski, The Politics of Judicial Decision-Making in Educational Policy Reform Litigation, 55 Hastings Law Journal 1077-1233 (2004).
• William S. Koski and Hillary Anne Weis, What Educational Resources Do Students Need to Meet California's Educational Content Standards? A Textual Analysis of California's Educational Content Standards and Their Implications for Basic Educational Conditions and Resources, 106 Teachers College Record 1907-1935 (2004).
• William S. Koski, Of Fuzzy Standards and Institutional Constraints: A Re-Examination of the Jurisprudential History of Educational Finance Reform Litigation, 43 Santa Clara Law Review 1185-1298 (2003).
• William S. Koski, Educational Opportunity and Accountability in an Era of Standards-Based School Reform, 12 Stanford Law and Policy Review 301-332 (2001)
• Henry M. Levin and William S. Koski, Twenty-five Years After Rodriguez: What Have We Learned?, 102 Teachers College Record 480-513 (June 2000).

In the News

• Changing No Child Left Behind
  KCBS Radio, April 22, 2008

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Education Advocacy Clinic
• Education Advocacy Clinic: Advanced
• Law, Litigation, and Educational Policy

Programs

• Youth and Education Law Project, Director

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• William S. Koski, School Finance, in The Chicago Companion to the Child, Chicago: University of Chicago Press (forthcoming)
• William S. Koski and Jesse Hahnel, The Past, Present, and Possible Futures of Educational Finance Reform Litigation, in American Educational Finance Association Handbook. (forthcoming)
• William S. Koski and Rob Reich, When "Adequate" Isn't: The Retreat from Equality in Educational Law and Policy and Why it Matters, 56 Emory Law Journal 545.
• William Koski and Eileen L. Horng, Curbing or Facilitating Inequality? Law, Collective Bargaining, and Teacher Assignment Among Schools in California, Stanford, CA: Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice (2007).
• William S. Koski, Achieving "Adequacy" in the Classroom, 27 Boston College Third World Journal 13 (2007).
• Rob Reich and William S. Koski, Adequacy, Equity, and the State, working paper prepared for Rethinking Rodriguez: Education as a Fundamental Right Symposium, Boalt Hall School of Law, April 27-28, 2006.
• R. Richard Banks, Pamela S. Karlan, William S. Koski and Jack Greenberg, Brown v. Board of Education: 50 Years Later [Panel discussion], 38 Stanford Lawyer 20-25 (Spring 2004).
• William S. Koski. Challenge And Opportunity: An Analysis Of Chapter 26.5 And The System For Delivering Mental Health Services To Special Education Students In California, (2004). (with Jenna Klatell, David Kovick, Karie Lew, and Diane Thompson)
• William S. Koski, The Politics of Judicial Decision-Making in Educational Policy Reform Litigation, 55 Hastings Law Journal 1077-1233 (2004).
• William S. Koski and Hillary Anne Weis, What Educational Resources Do Students Need to Meet California's Educational Content Standards? A Textual Analysis of California's Educational Content Standards and Their Implications for Basic Educational Conditions and Resources, 106 Teachers College Record 1907-1935 (2004).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Referee (2006-Present), Teachers College Record
• Member (2005-Present), Board of Directors, Youth Law Center
• Member (2004-Present), Faculty Steering Committee, Haas Center for Public Service
• Member (2001-Present), Board of Directors, Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation
• Vice Chair (2005-2006), Faculty Steering Committee, Haas Center for Public Service

Honors and Awards

• Public Service Award (2007), IMPACT
• William R. Jentes Fellow (1990-93), University of Michigan Law School
• Recipient, Louis Honigman Memorial Award, University of Michigan Law School, 1993
• Recipient, E. Blythe Stason Award, University of Michigan Law School, 1993