A federal right to education should include three essential protections: foundational opportunities, equitable provision, and a federal forum¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The report proposes that, balancing state and local control with a limited federal role, the federal government provide "at least three essential protections through a federal right to education": recognition of a federal right requiring states to provide foundational educational opportunities necessary to be an engaged and effective citizen, a productive worker, and a college- and career-ready graduate; a requirement that states provide these opportunities equitably; and a federal forum so students and families can allege a state has failed to provide these opportunities or provided them inequitably.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A federal forum enabling students and families to allege state failures to provide foundational or equitable educational opportunities

Constraints¶

• The report frames these protections as guided by balancing the primacy of state and local control of education with a limited federal role

Target Learners¶

• All U.S. public schoolchildren

Target Learning Goals¶

• Citizenship preparation
• College and career readiness
• Equitable provision of educational opportunity

Claims¶

• The U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Rodriguez decision held that the 14th Amendment neither explicitly nor implicitly guarantees a right to education [+W]
• State antidiscrimination laws provide only a patchwork of protection from racial discrimination in education [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Federal reforms to strengthen antidiscrimination protection: amend Title VI, fund enforcement, and issue clarifying guidance
• State reforms: comprehensive discrimination prohibitions, constitutional entrenchment, enforcement capacity, and strengthened state rights to education

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Robinson, K. J. (2021). Protecting education as a civil right: Remedying racial discrimination and ensuring a high-quality education. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/407.455