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Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Law
Emerging School Finance Litigation In Mississippi, Lajuana Davis
Emerging School Finance Litigation In Mississippi, Lajuana Davis
Mississippi College Law Review
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the implementation of Mississippi's education funding statute, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), which requires the state to fully fund public elementary and secondary education. In those two decades, Mississippi has largely avoided the education finance lawsuits faced by other states, despite the state legislature having only fully funded MAEP twice since its enactment. Although courts have been reluctant to push state legislatures to increase funding to achieve greater equity and adequacy of public school education, some plaintiffs have been successful in reforming education finance laws in other states. Recently, and for the …
Promises Made, Promises Broken: The Anatomy Of Idaho's School Funding Litigation, John E. Rumel
Promises Made, Promises Broken: The Anatomy Of Idaho's School Funding Litigation, John E. Rumel
Articles
This Article discusses the protracted Idaho Schools for Equal Educational Opportunity ("ISEEO") K-12 school funding litigation in Idaho - litigation initiated by plaintiffs under Idaho's state constitutional education clause in the early 1990s, which resulted in six reported decisions by the Idaho Supreme Court and two additional decisions in follow-on federal and state court cases and which, although leading to the state Supreme Court's affirming the trial court's determination that the Idaho legislature had failed to adequately fund public education under the thoroughness provision of the education clause, resulted in the state high court's dismissing the case without addressing the …
Mccleary V. State And The Washington State Supreme Court's Retention Of Jurisdiction—A Success Story For Washington Public Schools?, Jessica R. Burns
Mccleary V. State And The Washington State Supreme Court's Retention Of Jurisdiction—A Success Story For Washington Public Schools?, Jessica R. Burns
Seattle University Law Review SUpra
No abstract provided.
Educational Gerrymandering: Money, Motives, And Constitutional Rights, Derek Black
Educational Gerrymandering: Money, Motives, And Constitutional Rights, Derek Black
Faculty Publications
Public school funding plummeted following the Great Recession and failed to recover over the next decade, prompting strikes and protests across the nation. Courts did almost nothing to stop the decline. While a majority of state supreme courts recognize a constitutional right to an adequate or equal education, they increasingly struggle to enforce the right. That right could be approaching a tipping point. Either it evolves, or risks becoming irrelevant.
In the past, courts have focused almost exclusively on the adequacy and equity of funding for at-risk students, demanding that states provide more resources. Courts have failed to ask the …
Power And Powerlessness In The Shale Valley Schools: Fracking For Funding, Jacqueline Yahn
Power And Powerlessness In The Shale Valley Schools: Fracking For Funding, Jacqueline Yahn
West Virginia Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Fortification Of Inequality: Constitutional Doctrine And The Political Economy, Kate Andrias
The Fortification Of Inequality: Constitutional Doctrine And The Political Economy, Kate Andrias
Articles
As Parts I and II of this Essay elaborate, the examination yields three observations of relevance to constitutional law more generally: First, judge-made constitutional doctrine, though by no means the primary cause of rising inequality, has played an important role in reinforcing and exacerbating it. Judges have acquiesced to legislatively structured economic inequality, while also restricting the ability of legislatures to remedy it. Second, while economic inequality has become a cause célèbre only in the last few years, much of the constitutional doctrine that has contributed to its flourishing is longstanding. Moreover, for several decades, even the Court’s more liberal …
Minnesota’S Education System Is Unconstitutional:Will Someone Bring A Compelling Case?, Gerald Von Korff
Minnesota’S Education System Is Unconstitutional:Will Someone Bring A Compelling Case?, Gerald Von Korff
Mitchell Hamline Law Review
No abstract provided.
Inequitable Schools Demand A Federal Remedy, Kimberly J. Robinson
Inequitable Schools Demand A Federal Remedy, Kimberly J. Robinson
Law Faculty Publications
It is not often that the U.S. Supreme Court admits that one of its previous decisions, especially one that shaped the fabric of our nation, was fundamentally wrong. One such instance occurred in 1954, when the court famously declared, in Brown v. Board of Education, that the doctrine of “separate but equal” public schools for black children and white children was unconstitutional. In Brown, the court overturned, for public schools, its approval of this doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and established that segregated schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court also proclaimed that …
Taking Teacher Quality Seriously, Derek W. Black
Taking Teacher Quality Seriously, Derek W. Black
Faculty Publications
Although access to quality teachers is one of the most important aspects of a quality education, explicit concern with teacher quality has been conspicuously absent from past litigation over the right to education. Instead, past litigation has focused almost exclusively on funding. Though that litigation has narrowed gross fundinggaps between schools in many states, it has not changed what matters most: access to quality teachers.
This Article proposes a break from the traditional approach to litigating the constitutional right to education. Rather than constitutionalizing adequate or equal funding, courts should constitutionalize quality teaching. The recent success of the constitutional challenge …
The K-12 Funding Crisis, Kimberly J. Robinson
The K-12 Funding Crisis, Kimberly J. Robinson
Law Faculty Publications
Current discussions about K-12 education often highlight the reforms that seek to improve the quality of schooling. Some of these measures—the common-core standards, teacher evaluation, and, most recently, the Every Student Succeeds Act—undoubtedly have the potential to improve educational opportunities for students. However, what is often missing from education reform conversations is how these reforms can create sustainable changes to the education system. We believe the system's very foundations are broken, and school funding is one of the most pressing issues in need of repair.
No Quick Fix For Equity And Excellence: The Virtues Of Incremental Shifts In Education Federalism, Kimberly J. Robinson
No Quick Fix For Equity And Excellence: The Virtues Of Incremental Shifts In Education Federalism, Kimberly J. Robinson
Law Faculty Publications
In this Article, I join these calls for the federal government to lead states to reform their school funding systems. In doing so, I build upon my recent scholarship that calls for additional federal leadership insisting that states prioritize equity and excellence in education. I recommend that we restructure education federalism by requiring the federal government to serve as the ultimate guarantor of equal access to an excellent education. My theory of education federalism embraces federal policymaking strengths in education, such as federal research, technical, and financial assistance, that support state and local reforms to promote equity and excellence. This …
Profiting From Not For Profit: Toward Adequate Humanities Instruction In American K-12 Schools, Eli Savit
Profiting From Not For Profit: Toward Adequate Humanities Instruction In American K-12 Schools, Eli Savit
Michigan Law Review
Martha Nussbaum' describes Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities-her paean to a humanities-rich education-as a "manifesto, not an empirical study" (p. 121). Drawing on contemporary psychological research and classic pedagogical theories, Nussbaum convincingly argues that scholastic instruction in the humanities is a critical tool in shaping democratic citizens. Nussbaum shows how the study of subjects like literature, history, philosophy, and art helps students build essential democratic capacities like empathy and critical thought. Through myriad examples and anecdotes, Not For Profit sketches an appealing vision of what an ideal education should be in a democracy.
The Congressional Failure To Enforce Equal Protection Through The Elementary And Secondary Education Act, Derek W. Black
The Congressional Failure To Enforce Equal Protection Through The Elementary And Secondary Education Act, Derek W. Black
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Blood And Turnips In School Funding Litigation, John Dayton, Anne Proffitt Dupre
Blood And Turnips In School Funding Litigation, John Dayton, Anne Proffitt Dupre
Scholarly Works
There are always winners and losers in school funding reforms, which often leads to protracted litigation in these cases. School funding reforms directly affect tax burdens, the distribution of resources, and the allocation of educational opportunities. Competition over limited resources is inevitable. Although win-win scenarios are ideal, they are not likely in school funding disputes. Limited resources generally make school funding reforms a zero-sum game, with significant systemic changes redefining who wins and loses under the new system.
After the initial exuberance that occurs with a court victory, reform advocates must still face the challenge of translating their court victory …
School Finance Litigation: The History And Its Current Status In New York, Patrick A. Mcglashan
School Finance Litigation: The History And Its Current Status In New York, Patrick A. Mcglashan
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
No abstract provided.
Urban Legends, Desegregation And School Finance: Did Kansas City Really Prove That Money Doesn't Matter?, Preston C. Green Iii, Bruce D. Baker
Urban Legends, Desegregation And School Finance: Did Kansas City Really Prove That Money Doesn't Matter?, Preston C. Green Iii, Bruce D. Baker
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
This Article examines whether conservative critics are correct in their assertion that the Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) desegregation plan clearly establishes that no correlation exists between funding and academic outcomes. The first section provides a summary of public education in KCMSD prior to 1977, the beginning of the Missouri v. Jenkins school desegregation litigation. The second and third sections analyze whether the Jenkins desegregation and concurrent school finance litigation (Committee for Educational Equality v. State) addressed these problems. The fourth section provides an overview of school finance litigation and explains how KCMSD desegregation plan has been …
School Funding Litigation: Who's Winning The War?, John Dayton, Anne Dupre
School Funding Litigation: Who's Winning The War?, John Dayton, Anne Dupre
Vanderbilt Law Review
Much is being made this year in education law circles and elsewhere about the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.' The Brown decision has certainly left an indelible mark on schools and other institutions in the United States. But last year the thirtieth anniversary of another major Supreme Court opinion passed largely without comment, despite the fact that it may be the most significant decision regarding public schools since Brown. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, concluded that education was not a fundamental right and that disparities in school funding …
Funding The Education Of Arkansas's Children: A Summary Of The Problems And Challenges, Dent Gitchel
Funding The Education Of Arkansas's Children: A Summary Of The Problems And Challenges, Dent Gitchel
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review
No abstract provided.
Challenging The Bounds Of Education Litigation: Castaneda V. Regents And Daniel V. California, Alan E. Schoenfeld
Challenging The Bounds Of Education Litigation: Castaneda V. Regents And Daniel V. California, Alan E. Schoenfeld
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
This Note argues that by combining the normative suasion of educational finance litigation with the political imperatives manifested in affirmative action law and practice, those who seek to improve the quality of secondary education and expand access to higher education would likely effect greater change than they would working independently. Under the appropriate political and legal circumstances, access to public higher education ought to be treated as something akin to a fundamental right, the unequal distribution of which constitutes a violation of equal protection for students of color and for economically disadvantaged students. Using the Castaneda and Daniel lawsuits to …
Putting Black Kids Into A Trick Bag: Anatomizing The Inner-City Public School Reform, Wilbur C. Rich
Putting Black Kids Into A Trick Bag: Anatomizing The Inner-City Public School Reform, Wilbur C. Rich
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
Part I of this Article discusses the history of Brown, and the legal and political barriers that prevented the nation from fulfilling Brown's promise. Part II, will examine the phenomenon of White flight, which resulted from the efforts to implement the court-ordered desegregation of public schools. The political and economic effects of White flight on school reform efforts will also be examined. Part III will provide the reader with possible explanations for why school desegregation failed. The author will argue that the unexpected complexity of the task of desegregation, the lack of a unified direction among the judiciary, and …
The State Judiciary's Role In Fulfilling Brown's Promise, Quentin A. Palfrey
The State Judiciary's Role In Fulfilling Brown's Promise, Quentin A. Palfrey
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
After a brief overview of school finance litigation since Rodriguez and school desegregation cases since Brown, Part I argues that the "adequacy" model of reform addresses many of the underlying concerns of the equity model without sharing its methodological and strategic shortcomings. Part II focuses in more detail on Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State ("CFE"). Part III argues that education reform that is implemented after a finding that a state has violated a state constitutional duty should: (1) equalize funding to the extent necessary to guarantee certain minimum necessary inputs such as qualified teachers, small class …
Education Finance Reform Litigation And Separation Of Powers: Kentucky Makes Its Contribution, Troy Reynolds
Education Finance Reform Litigation And Separation Of Powers: Kentucky Makes Its Contribution, Troy Reynolds
Kentucky Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Constitutional Law—Equal Protection And School Funding In Arkansas, Mark Allison
Constitutional Law—Equal Protection And School Funding In Arkansas, Mark Allison
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review
No abstract provided.