Skip to content
FREE SHIPPING ON ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS $35+
FREE SHIPPING ON ALL US ORDERS $35+
A Federal Right to Education: Fundamental Questions for Our Democracy - Paperback | Diverse Reads

A Federal Right to Education: Fundamental Questions for Our Democracy

Availability:
in stock, ready to be shipped
$24.00 - $24.00
$24.00
$35.99
$35.99 - $35.99
$35.99
How the United States can provide equal educational opportunity to every child

The United States Supreme Court closed the courthouse door to federal litigation to narrow educational funding and opportunity gaps in schools when it ruled in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez in 1973 that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to education. Rodriguez pushed reformers back to the state courts where they have had some success in securing reforms to school funding systems through education and equal protection clauses in state constitutions, but far less success in changing the basic structure of school funding in ways that would ensure access to equitable and adequate funding for schools. Given the limitations of state school funding litigation, education reformers continue to seek new avenues to remedy inequitable disparities in educational opportunity and achievement, including recently returning to federal court.

This book is the first comprehensive examination of three issues regarding a federal right to education: why federal intervention is needed to close educational opportunity and achievement gaps; the constitutional and statutory legal avenues that could be employed to guarantee a federal right to education; and, the scope of what a federal right to education should guarantee. A Federal Right to Education provides a timely and thoughtful analysis of how the United States could fulfill its unmet promise to provide equal educational opportunity and the American Dream to every child, regardless of race, class, language proficiency, or neighborhood.

ISBN-13: 9781479825899

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: New York University Press

Publication Date: 06-13-2023

Pages: 384

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

Kimberly Jenkins Robinson (Editor) Kimberly Jenkins Robinson is Professor and Executive Director of the Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law. She is also Professor at UVA's School of Education and Human Development and a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute. Martha Minow (Foreword by) Martha Minow is the Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor at Harvard Law School.

Table of Contents

Foreword. "The Whole People Must Take Upon Themselves the Education of the Whole People" Martha Minow vii

Introduction. The Essential Questions Regarding a Federal Right to Education Kimberly Jenkins Robinson 1

Part I Why the United States Should (Or Should Not) Consider Recognizing a Federal Right to Education

1 The Justifications for a Stronger Federal Response to Address Educational Inequalities Jason P. Nance 35

2 The Inadequate Right to Education: A Case Study of Obstacles to State Protection Kristine L. Bowman 65

3 Doctrine, Politics, and the Limits of a Federal Right to Education Eloise Pasachoff 84

4 Latina/os and a Federal Right to Education Kevin R. Johnson 109

Part II How the United States Could Recognize a Federal Right to Education

5 Implying a Federal Constitutional Right to Education Derek W. Black 135

6 Education for Sovereign People Peggy Cooper Davis 164

7 A Congressional Right to Education: Promises, Pitfalls, and Politics Kimberly Jenkins Robinson 186

8 No Time to Lose: Why the United States Needs an Education Amendment to the US Constitution: Southern Education Foundation 208

Part III What a Federal Right to Education Should Guarantee

9 Assuring Essential Educational Resources through a Federal Right to Education Linda Darling-Hammond 235

10 The Constitution of Opportunity: Democratic Equality, Economic Inequality, and the Right to Compete Rachel F. Moran 261

11 Lessons from State School Finance Inform a New Federal Right to Equal Access to a High-Quality Education Carmel Martin Ulrich Boser Meg Benner Perpetual Baffour 283

12 Protecting a Federal Right to Educational Equality and Adequacy Joshua E. Weishart 303

Conclusion. An American Dream Deferred: A Federal Right to Education Kimberly Jenkins Robinson 327

Afterword: Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott of Virginia 339

Acknowledgments 343

About the Editor 345

About the Contributors 347

Index 355