Partnerships Between Litigators and Organizers
Prove Essential to School Reform
This year’s conference welcomed participants
involved in litigation, grassroots organizing, and policymaking.
Several speakers emphasized the essential need for cooperation
between litigators seeking adequate educational opportunity,
organizers working towards similar goals, and advocates
pushing to motivate legislators to implement judicial
victories. Sessions at the conference addressed all
of these aspects of the education reform process.
A highlight of the conference was Justice Gary
Stein’s luncheon address. The retired
New Jersey Supreme Court judge, who was on the bench
throughout much of New Jersey’s long-running Abbott
school funding adequacy lawsuit, inspired participants
with a detailed history of New Jersey’s battle
over school finance from the court’s perspective.
Justice Stein shared the court’s strong awareness
of the separation of powers issues that have come to
dominate some debates over adequacy litigation, with
many claiming that courts have overstepped the bounds
of their power by ordering legislatures to correct unconstitutional
funding systems. However, Justice Stein praised the
court’s “courageous Chief Justice,”
and explained that the record in the case was so “devastating,”
that facilities in the state were so “grim,”
as to present an “inexcusable inequality”
that moved the justices to action. Justice Stein also
discussed New Jersey’s remedy, which includes
a guarantee that New Jersey urban school districts (the
Abbott districts) will be funded at levels equal to
wealthy suburban districts. Justice Stein stated that
“money may not be a cure, but it can be a help,
which the students are constitutionally entitled to,”
concluding that all student deserve the same access
to educational opportunity. He concluded by reminding
the audience that the job is not over with a judicial
victory, for even “after you get your decision,
you're going to have to stand guard.”
This year’s Litigators’ Workshop
boasted continued strong attendance from litigators
representing plaintiffs in all stages of adequacy litigations
in many states across the country. Experienced litigators
from several states shared lessons from their litigations,
with participants frequently jumping in to add supporting
information, caveats, and questions to the session.
With participation from lawyers in current, former,
and soon-to-be active cases, the session, originally
the very reason for the annual Access conferences, was
once again a popular opportunity for discussion and
networking.
Many of the states represented in the Litigators’
Workshop were also represented by advocates and organizers
in other sessions. Cynthia Guyer, executive director
of the Portland Schools Foundation, opened the “Holding
Public Officials Accountable” session
by telling her organization’s story as a case
study for how groups can get civic and political will
behind campaigns and strategies. Her organization put
school finance as a public policy matter on the state’s
agenda in 1996 through rallies and raised $11 million
to buy back teachers for the 1 year they were laid off.
An adequacy lawsuit was filed
in the state three months ago.
Dorothy Singleton, lead organizer for Advocates for
Community and Rural Education (ACRE) in Arkansas, described
the 20-year battle for school funding in predominantly-black
Lakeview, Arkansas. Although Lakeview won its case in
court, Singleton explained how political and racial
issues have created controversy over the amount of money
to be distributed and the method of distribution. ACRE
and other organizations have formed a coalition on education,
which has put together a 10-point plan for demanding
quality education in Arkansas and is communicating regularly
withing legislators to hold them accountable. An Arkansas
superintendent, Dale Query, also spoke about this coalition
and the strength with which the state’s superintendents’
organization speaks for education in Arkansas
Community organizing around New York state was the
subject for Billy Easton, executive director of the
Alliance for Quality Education. To increase awareness
and momentum, Easton suggested that organizers coordinate
simultaneous events in different cities across their
state and focus lobbying efforts on key legislators.
The voices of young advocates were heard during a session
on “Engaging Youth in Reform.”
Jessica Bynoe, director of the Youth Innovation Fund
at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, described the eight
Youth Innovation Funds across the country, which partner
service learning and youth philanthropy. Unlike other
opportunities for young people to contribute to civic
life, these Funds allow youth to lead civic action directed
at root causes of local issues for sustainable change.
Robert Jackson, a high school senior and Youth Innovation
Board intern in Nashville, Tennessee, described his
work with campaigns on youth philanthropy, organizing,
and media. He reminded the audience that “we need
youth at the table to create reform – we know
what schools are like day-to-day, and we need to be
heard.” Kate Curley, a high school junior and
board member of YOUTHINK in Portland, Maine, discussed
how a youth-oriented grassroots campaign can empower
youth to reform schools. Her organization’s administration
of small grants provides outlets for students to express
their opinions and transform the community from the
inside out.
Marty Strange, policy director of the Rural School
and Community Trust, and John Myers, of JL Myers Group,
discussed the importance of small schools in rural communities
during “Small Schools Near Home: Essential
for a Constitutional Education?” “As
schools get bigger, children are more adversely affected
by poverty,” stated Strange. Small schools face
large challenges, though, and in some states with successful
court cases, small schools have been consolidated out
of existence. Instead of improving small schools in
their own communities, children are bussed to bigger
schools far from home.
Despite findings showing that smaller schools have
higher graduation rates, small rural schools seem to
be disfavored by the majority of the public. Strange
believes that legislators and the urban majority do
not have faith in rural communities to maintain and
run their own schools. Mr. Myers emphasized the need
for costing out studies for rural schools, though they
are complex.
Prepared on June 14, 2006 |
