Here is a sickening decision, indicative of Trump-era thinking:
“On Friday, dumped out with the least desirable news of the week came word that a lawsuit arguing that Detroit students were being denied an education had been dismissed.
“Perhaps you remember the case. MT presented a cover story about it last year. With the help of a public interest law firm, a handful of Detroit students charged in federal court that educational officials in Michigan — including Gov. Rick Snyder — denied them access to an education of any quality.
“The lawsuit took pains to illustrate how Detroit’s schools — run under a state-appointed emergency manager — were a welter of dysfunction: overcrowded classrooms, lack of textbooks and basic materials, unqualified staff, leaking roofs, broken windows, black mold, contaminated drinking water, rodents, no pens, no paper, no toilet paper, and unsafe temperatures that had classes canceled due to 90-degree heat or classrooms so cold students could see their breath.
“At times, without teachers or instructional materials, students were simply herded into rooms and asked to watch videos. One student claimed to have learned all the words to the film Frozen in high school. The lawsuit even mentions one eighth grade student who “taught” a seventh and eighth grade math class for a month because no teacher could be found.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was long expecting the Chinese to buy out Detroit wholesale. Now I see why this did not happen: Putin made a better offer. Russia will start its invasion on poisoned American soil from Detroit. Russia will impose mandatory schools with strict regime and soccer training, and will provide school buses with barred windows.
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“Literacy is important, the judge noted. But students enjoy no right to access to being taught literacy. All the state has to do is make sure schools run. If they are unable to educate their students, that’s a shame, but court rulings have not established that ‘access to literacy’ is ‘a fundamental right.'”
Thomas Jefferson’s soul is looking for another country to establish residence. We used to teach history and comparative government using examples like this to demonstrate how the U.S. is different from (better than) other countries. If anyone doubts that we are sliding toward fascism, have them read that paragraph a few times. This is perhaps the most chilling post since the election.
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Amen, GregB.
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This appears to be in the category of what are referred to as “school finance cases.” Almost exclusively, those cases rely on state constitutions that set forth some minimum standard of education to which students are entitled. I glanced quickly at the opinion in this case, and I don’t see any claims that the state (or whatever officials the plaintiffs were suing) violated any state constitutional provisions about education. This is a purely federal case, resting on the U.S. constitution. And my understanding is that since the Rodriguez case in the early 70s, it’s been settled law that the U.S. constitution does not mandate that states provide any baseline level of funding for schools, as long as states’ funding schemes have any “rational relationship” to a legitimate state interest. Since Rodriguez, school finance litigation has been focused in state court and based on state constitutional issues, not in federal court and not based on U.S. constitutional issues. This may just be what happens in a school finance case in a state that has no “fundamental right to education” provision in its state constitution.
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I wonder what the proponents of strong state vs centralized federal power will say about that.
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They’ll say that if the state wants to provider stronger constitutional rights than the U.S. constitution provides, the state should amend its constitution accordingly, and pronto.
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FLERP!, off topic, but here’s a NSFW view of identity politics:
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But I’m at work!
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I watched it even though I’m at work. My daughter, who was a big reader of those books as a child, gave me a similar rant the other day upon learning about this.
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Love it, Greg! I’m so relieved that i no longer have to introduce myself with an anti-fascist disclaimer. (snark alert)
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Interesting video. I guess the sun never sets on the empire of narrow mindedness. Someone needs a spot of tea and a nap.
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Sick 😷.
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There is no right to a quality education. See San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-1973-supreme-court-decision-has-contributed-to-our-inequality
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Every child should be “offered” a quality education. Just because some Alt-Right Deep State judge ruled the opposite does not make that ruling right.
Slavery was legal once thirteen US states, wasn’t it? If slavery was still legal today, would you support slavery, would you have your own slaves?
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There are many Supreme Court decisions that I do not agree with. Just because the Supreme Court has issued a judgement, does not make it right.
I dislike Wickard v. Filburn (1942), and I dislike Kelo v. New London. There is a terrific book “The Dirty Dozen”, about the 12 worst Supreme Court cases ever.
Chattel slavery was legal, during the British colonization, and in the new USA. So what?
If the USA again permitted chattel slavery, I would not support the institution. And I would not go out an purchase a slave.
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This is a preview of what public education in the United States will be if the Alt-Right Deep States (ALEC) has its way.
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The issues in Michigan are the result of policies favored by the state and funding schemes within Detroit setting up charter schools at the expense of the public schools ( in addition to much else). You can see this in the minutes of the Board of Education…recent meetings about charges for transportation by a charter management organization.
State policies are now so alt-right that proposed changes in the Social Studies Curriculum would bar all references to democracy ( I kid you not), climate change, Roe vs Wade, and more. I am not a fan of the new Social Studies Standards under discussion, but the overt censorship is off the charts wrong. At least some citizens are paying attention. I hope this spills over to getting rid of the legislators who are doing damage to education, including higher education in Michigan.
see https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/public-outcry-delays-michigan-social-studies-standards
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Yep. In Utah, for years, we teachers cannot say that the U.S. is a democracy. We have to say that it is a, wait for it, “Constitutional Compound Republic.” It’s a state law (I wish I was making this up) I asked the state for YEARS what the “compound” was supposed to refer to. I finally figured it out–it’s federalism. But Utah doesn’t want to say “federal” any more than they want to say “democracy,” so here we are.
It’s also against the law in Utah to have flags other than U.S. flags in a classroom, unless those international flags are smaller and below the classroom U.S. flag.
Welcome to my life.
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Another reason for school choice!
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No, school choice does not provide a right to literacy and most Choice schools are guaranteed to make students scientifically illiterate. Otis that the world you want to live in? If so, I doubt you arean engineer.
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It wouldn’t make a difference in Utah, Chuck. Charter schools are all required to follow these same laws.
Plus, school choice does NOTHING for a right-wing legislature. AND, a lot of Utah state legislators make money from charter schools, so they really have a vested interest in charters.
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