The Right to an Education
The most significant current political issue that Bob Moses raised at the conference this past weekend was this: You have no Constitutional right to an education. The 1973 Supreme Court decision San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez is very clear:
Though education is one of the most important services performed by the State, it is not within the limited category of rights recognized by this Court as guaranteed by the Constitution.
And so there you have it. Surprising to many, including myself, this is an important reality check and a call to action. If you read the details of the 1973 case, which are fairly interesting, you can see how the Court carefully keeps away from getting into the business of telling the States how to set up property taxes and educational systems. This is a wise thing. And while the majority opinion seems reasonable in that regard, I believe what Bob Moses believes: We need a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing the right to a free, quality public education to all. In a world of increasing complexity, it’s not enough to let the systems of public education rest of a hodgepodge of state constitutions, property taxes, federal funding patchworks, and Equal Protection. We’ve woven those all together into a system that makes people feel like education is a fundamental Constitutional right, and I think that’s what I found it surprising to learn that it’s not. Of course there will be debate over what “quality” means and how we ought to measure it and what we’ve got to do when we find out things are unfair or that we’re not getting “quality”. But I think that’s the right debate to have. What do you think?
