Law Commons^™

The Courts, Educational Policy, And Unintended Consequences, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Recent school finance litigation illustrates yet again how law can generate unintended policy consequences. Seeking to improve student achievement and school accountability, more states now turn to educational standards and assessments. At the same time, a multi-decade school finance litigation effort develops and changes its theoretical base. Recently, educational standards and school finance litigation converged in a way that enables school districts to gain financially from their inability to meet desired achievement levels. Specifically, courts increasingly allow litigants and lawsuits to transform standards and assessments into constitutional entitlements to additional resources. As a consequence, increased legal and financial exposure for …

Separate But Unequal: The Status Of America's Public Schools, Michigan Journal Of Race & Law

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Transcript of the symposium, which took place at the University of Michigan Law School on Saturday, February 9, 2002 in Hutchins Hall.

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

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 …

"A" For Effort: Evaluating Recent State Education Reform In Response To Judicial Demands For Equity And Adequacy, Erin E. Buzuvis

Faculty Scholarship

In this Note, the Author examines measures recently enacted by New Hampshire and Vermont in response to judicial mandates for education reform. By implementing district reform measures in demographically similar environments, the reform efforts of these two states provide a valuable perspective from which to examine the education finance reform. Evaluating the experiences of these two New England states, as well as those of other states committed to education finance reform, the author contends that successful reform measures must incorporate elements of both equity and adequacy. Specifically, the Author proposes that both states' implementation of a statewide property tax is …

Taas And Gi Forum V. Texas Education Agency: A Critical Analysis And Proposal For Redressing Problems With The Standardized Testing In Texas., Blakely Latham Fernandez

St. Mary's Law Journal

Texas’s use of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test as an accountability program has had numerous negative and far-reaching effects on minorities. Today, students in Texas public schools first take the TAAS test in the third grade. Students continue to take a form of the TAAS test each year, with the exit-level assessment initially given in the eleventh grade. Students must pass all four sections–Mathematics, English, Science, and Social Studies–in order to graduate and receive their high school diploma. Although devised to effectively motivate students, schools, and teachers with the goal of enhancing educational standards, the TAAS test …

The Robert L. Levine Distinguished Lecture Series, Lecture, Reforming School Reform, Martha Minow

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Equal Educational Opportunity And Constitutional Theory: Preliminary Thoughts On The Role Of School Choice And The Autonomy Principle, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Inadequate schools impede America's long-standing quest for greater equal educational opportunity. The equal educational opportunity doctrine, traditionally moored in terms of race, has expanded to include notions of educational adequacy. Educational adequacy is frequently construed in terms of educational spending and framed in terms largely incident to constitutional litigation.

This paper explores the potential intersections of the school choice and school finance movements, particularly as they relate to litigation and policy. The paper argues that school choice policies constitute a viable remedy for successful school finance litigation and form a remedy that simultaneously advances individual autonomy, one critical constitutional principle.

Equal Educational Opportunity, Hollow Victories, And The Demise Of School Finance Equity Theory: An Empirical Perspective And Alternative Explanation, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Professor Heise reports findings from his on-going empirical study of judicial impact in the school finance context. The study employs interrupted time series analyses to explore the independent effect of successful school finance equity court decisions on two key outcome variables, centralization and total educational spending levels. The results cast some doubt about long-held assumptions regarding the efficacy of court decisions. The author argues that the results also uncover important clues that help explain the recent fundamental shift in school finance litigation theory from equity to adequacy.

Schoolhouses, Courthouses, And Statehouses: Educational Finance, Constitutional Structure, And The Separation Of Powers Doctrine, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Comparing United States And New Zealand Legal Education: Are U.S. Law Schools Too Good?, Gregory S. Crespi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article offers a thoughtful comparison of the legal educational systems of the United States and New Zealand. The author highlights the significant differences between these two legal educational systems by contrasting their admissions policies, clinical programs, "law-and-economics" electives, and staffing of required courses. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that although U.S. law schools are clearly "better," such superiority may have been achieved at too high of a cost, in terms of both the substantial resources now devoted to legal education which could otherwise be applied to alternative uses and the problematic effects of the stratified legal educational …

Assessing The Efficacy Of School Desegregation, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

State Constitutional Litigation, Educational Finance, And Legal Impact: An Empirical Analysis, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Court Vs. Educational Standards, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Normative And Going Nowhere, Kevin D. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

What's Quality Got To Do With It?: Constitutional Theory, Politics, And Education Reform, Phil Weiser

Publications

No abstract provided.

Goals 2000: Educate America Act: The Federalization And Legalization Of Educational Policy, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

School-Based Decision Making In Kentucky: Dawn Of A New Era Or Nothing New Under The Sun?, Charles J. Russo

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

An Empirical And Constitutional Analysis Of Racial Ceilings And Public Schools, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Public Funds, Private Schools, And The Court: Legal Issues And Policy Consequences, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Education Finance Reform Litigation And Separation Of Powers: Kentucky Makes Its Contribution, Troy Reynolds

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Educational Research In Virginia - A New Opportunity In Virginia, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Powell Speeches

No abstract provided.