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Litigation
Update: Arizona, Alaska, California, Indiana,
New York, Oregon, Oklahoma
As
a new school year begins, many states face
education finance "adequacy" litigations
that seek adequate resources in schools,
especially those schools educating low-income
and minority students, which often lack
these resources. While Kansas recently enacted
remedial measures that ended the Montoy
v. State case, three states have filed
motions to dismiss new cases filed this
year, other states are in the midst of discovery,
summary judgment motions, appeals, or compliance
proceedings, and the Ninth Circuit recently
decided a case brought by English language
learners. Read
Full Story |
| U.N.
Criticizes Segregation in U.S. Schools;
Supreme Court to Hear Cases Challenging
Integration
On
July 28, the U.N. Human Rights Committee
released a report that was critical of racial
segregation in public schools in the United
States. The report reviews practices of
the United States in regards to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
a treaty to which the United States is a
signatory. The report comments and makes
recommendations on a number of human rights
issues, including alleged racial discrimination
in the federal government's response to
Hurricane Katrina and what the Committee
called "de facto racial segregation
in public schools." Read
Full Story
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| Rural
Advocates Fight for Local Schools
In
recent months, new and old advocacy organizations
in the rural areas of several states have
fought for better funding for local community
schools. A Mississippi organization is pushing
for full school funding, two organizations
are working to help schools in Arkansas,
an Idaho organization has a school funding
intiative on the November ballot, grassroots
activism has had an impact in Nebraska,
and advocacy organizations are fighting
to save small schools in Maine and West
Virginia. Read
Full Story
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Legislators
in New Jersey Look For National Perspective
in School Funding Discussions
Addressing
New Jersey's Joint Legislative Committee
on School Funding Reform, meeting in special
session on August 22, Molly A. Hunter, Managing
Director of the National Access Network,
and Michael Griffith, a consultant to the
National Conference of State Legislatures,
provided national perspectives on the numerous
school funding litigations occurring across
the country and the various ways states
design their school funding systems. Read
Full Story
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| PDK/Gallup
Poll: Public Supports Public Schools, Disagrees
with NCLB
A
recent poll suggests that people support
their local public schools and oppose radical
solutions to the problems facing public
education. In addition to showing widespread
support for local public schools, the PDK/Gallup
poll also shows that people believe that
school finance is the number one problem
facing public education. A majority of those
polled believe that educational problems
have their roots in social problems, and
a majority also appear to be willing to
pay more taxes in order to see schools improve.
Finally, the poll showed popular opposition
to many features of the No Child Left Behind
Act. Read
Full Story
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