Michigan Court Rules That State Has No Obligation To Provide Children With Education [View all]

[avebury]

This so does not bode well for our country if the decision spreads nationwide. I can see Republicans and the Tea Party crowd using it to defund education. I am surprised that there does not seem to be reporting on this outside of Michigan.


Michigan Court Rules That State Has No Obligation To Provide Children With Education
Author: Wendy Gittleson November 20, 2014 9:25 pm

Many days, it seems that all the advances our country has made are being dismantled one court decision at a time. A recent decision in Michigan, which has largely flown under the radar, should it hold up on a national level, could mean that poor children will have no access to education.

On November 7, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that one poverty-stricken school district didn’t have to provide a quality education to children.

A 2-1 decision reversed an earlier circuit court ruling that there is a “broad compelling state interest in the provision of an education to all children.” The appellate court said the state has no constitutional requirement to ensure schoolchildren actually learn fundamental skills such as reading — but rather is obligated only to establish and finance a public education system, regardless of quality. Waving off decades of historic judicial impact on educational reform, the majority opinion also contends that “judges are not equipped to decide educational policy.”

“This ruling should outrage anyone who cares about our public education system,” said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties of Michigan. “The court washes its hands and absolves the state of any responsibility in a district that has failed and continues to fail its children.”


http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/20/michigan-court-rules-that-state-has-no-obligation-to-provide-children-with-education/