I say yes; San Antonio v. Rodriguez says no. Who’s right?
Neither case you cited established a right to an education, based on the U.S. Constituion, because nothing in the Consitution can be interpreted as granting such a right. Brown struck down racially seperate schools, San Antonio said that desegregation orders could not cross jurisdictional lines.
However, almost every state consitution mentions something about the duty of the state to provide public education. There have been several notable court decisions based on these claueses, the most famous of which is Serrano v. Priest in California, IIRC.
Sort of a strange question. In a conflict between a Supreme Court decision and Really Not All That Bright on a rule of law, generally the law favors the Supreme Court decision. If the Supreme Court says the Due Process Clause doesn’t guarantee a fundamental right to education, brother, it don’t.
Now, whether the Supreme Court or Really Not All That Bright has the more correct view of what the Constitution requires is a different question, but not a General Question; it’s a Great Debate.
Um… what? SA v. Rodriguez said no such thing. It was about equal funding for schools in poor areas, and didn’t have anything to do with jurisdictional lines.
The following quote reasserts that the Supreme Court does not view public education as a right (it never has). It does, however, recognize that as a state benefit it ranks higher than other state benefits (welfare, etc.). So in essence it is not a right it is a benefit, albeit a very important one.
“…and although education is not a “fundamental right,” so as to require the State to justify the statutory classification by showing that it serves a compelling governmental interest, nevertheless the Texas statute imposes a lifetime hardship on a discrete class of children not accountable for their disabling status. These children can neither affect their parents’ conduct nor their own undocumented status. [457 U.S. 202, 203] The deprivation of public education is not like the deprivation of some other governmental benefit. Public education has a pivotal role in maintaining the fabric of our society and in sustaining our political and cultural heritage; the deprivation of education takes an inestimable toll on the social, economic, intellectual, and psychological well-being of the individual, and poses an obstacle to individual achievement.”
Forgot the Cite
I don’t understand the issue here – isn’t it obvious that the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment is what is being upheld in Brown?
General Questions is for questions with factual answers. This is more of a Great Debate.
Off to Great Debates.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator