William S. Koski

- Eric and Nancy Wright Professor of Clinical Education
- Director, Youth and Education Law Project
- Room N146, Neukom Building
Expertise
- Children & the Law
- Clinical Education
- Education Law
- Policy Analysis
- Public Interest Law
- Public Interest Practice
Biography
Professor (by courtesy) of Education
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.
Education
- BBA with highest distinction University of Michigan 1990
- JD cum laude University of Michigan Law School 1993
- PhD Stanford University School of Education 2003
Related Organizations
Courses
Affiliations & Honors
- 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
- 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
Policy Practicums
Key Works
News
California parents fed up with schools want to make high-quality education a constitutional right
CalMatters
But William Koski, a law and education professor at Stanford University, remains skeptical that political mobilization, if it materializes, will pressure the Legislature to take action. “Everyone in the California Legislature knew schools were underfunded,” he said. “Yet they couldn’t do anything about it because of a fear of raising…
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Projects

The Coalition for Adequate Special Education Funding
Related Organizations Youth and Education Law Project Related People William S. Koski It is generally well-known that Congress and the…
Learn moreWilliams v. California: Expert Witness Report and Testimony
Related Organizations Youth and Education Law Project Related People William S. Koski On the 46th anniversary of Brown v. Board…
Learn moreReport on 2004 County Mental Health Services In May 2004
Related Organizations Youth and Education Law Project Related People William S. Koski The Youth and Education Law Clinic released “Challenge…
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