When conducting legal research in the field of education law it is important to first step back and think about the problem at hand. The public school system is heavily regulated at a variety of levels. You must determine how to obtain a remedy for your client by figuring out exactly what they want, and what party will be able to grant that relief. Once you determine what party to file a claim against, and if the issue is local, state or federal, you can begin conducting research.
Before jumping onto Westlaw or Lexis you should exhaust the large number of free resources available, both online and in print at your local library. In addition to familiarizing you with the legal issues, these sources will help you get a grasp on the acronyms and terminology used in education law. While this information can be obtained through case law research, it is cheaper and more effective to use secondary resources. After that is done, you can then use pay-for online sources if necessary. It will likely be a good idea to check your online legal resource after finding information on a free database to ensure the information is current. After that, you will likely be finding black letter law to answer your question, or conduct further case law research to determining the meaning of a statute or regulation.