A Federal Right to Education - by Kimberly Jenkins Robinson

About the Book

"'A Federal Right to Education' explores connections between education, law, and democracy"--

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"

This is a wonderful collection of essays on a topic of great importance: whether there should be a federal right to education. The essays in this volume are written by the top experts in the
country and together they make a compelling case that education should be deemed a fundamental right and that only by doing so can we ensure an adequate education for every child. This is scholarship at its best, documenting the problem and showing the path forward.

"--Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law

"The raging educational inequities within and between the states call out for a federal right to education. This book provides a helpful overview of the variety of ways this goal might be achieved, and the challenges posed by each of the possible pathways."--Michael Rebell, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Educational Equity, Teachers College, Columbia University

"This important book examines the pressing issue of how we can actually and at long last deliver on an equity promise in public education to the nation's students. The debates in these pages merit deep and sustained attention to protect the long recognized public good of educating all people, regardless of background, toward effective civic engagement and participation. Kimberly Jenkins Robinson and her contributors in these pages distill and make accessible competing theories for if and how to proceed, without ever losing focus on what is at stake for children in school and the health of the nation. This book is a must read for anyone who cares about policy for kids."--Catherine Lhamon, chair, US Commission on Civil Rights and former Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, US Department of Education

About the Author

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 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard Law School. She is the author of many books, including Feminist Legal Theory, 2nd Edition (NYU, 2016), When Should Law Forgive? (Norton, 2019), and Saving the News: Why The Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve the Freedom of Speech (OUP, 2021).