Michigan Court Rules That State Has No Obligation To Provide Children With Education

[Wella]

8. OK, found the original case: it was against a charter school whose kids couldn't read at level

This is very bad news. I thought, at first, that the case might have been about not providing extras or expensive equipment. It's not. It really is about basic skills. The judge is protecting the Charter with this ruling. I think someone should check that judge's investments and campaign donations.

http://michigancitizen.com/court-rules-michigan-has-no-responsibility-to-provide-quality-public-education/

The decision dismisses an unprecedented “right-to-read” lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Michigan in July 2012 on behalf of eight students of nearly 1,000 children attending K-12 public schools in Highland Park, Mich. The suit, which named as defendants the State of Michigan, its agencies charged with overseeing public education and the Highland Park School District, maintained that the state failed to take effective steps to ensure that students are reading at grade level.

“Let’s remember it was the state that turned the entire district over to a for-profit charter management company with no track record of success with low performing schools,” said Moss. “It is the state that has not enforced the law that requires literacy intervention to children not reading at grade level. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure and maintain a system of education that serves all children.”

In a dissenting opinion, appellate court judge Douglas Shapiro accused the court of “abandonment of our essential judicial roles, that of enforcement of the rule of law even where the defendants are governmental entities, and of protecting the rights of all who live within Michigan’s borders, particularly those, like children, who do not have a voice in the political process.”