Essay for class (July 12, 2011)

-Make this our current event discussion tomorrow:
-I read this and found it interesting....
   In Financing Education in a Climate of Change (Chapter 9), as well as the Legal Issues and Finance Part 1 power point, it occurred to me that maybe we are not following the Equal Protection and Taxation Clause. In the opening sentence the book (p. 211) cites, “Without judicial action equal educational opportunity will never exist”. I remembered seeing a You Tube video during my school law class about Brown v BOE Topeka Kansas and included the link below.

   It is such a fine line however, as local taxes in depressed areas, which usually include many African-Americans have a very limited tax base, or the rate of collection is very sparse. In addition, they suffer the most from tax cuts.

   The Serrano decision in 1971 found the school finance system to be unconstitutional. This ruling occurred in California Supreme Court and a precedent was set and other states also complied. But two years later in the San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Texas school finance plan against an equal protection challenge. As cited on page 212, “Though education is one of the most important services performed by the State, it is not within the limited category of rights recognized by this Court as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution,” according to Justice Lewis Powell and the 5-4 vote in his court room.

   The book explains three waves of school finance litigation. I see a “fourth wave” emerging from the first three, the voucher, and or school choice system. The first wave dealt with challenges of inequitable and unfair state funding schemes under the 14^th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The second wave claimed inequitable finance systems were unconstitutional under both the Equal Protection Clause, as well as educational articles of the state constitution. The third wave came about due to claims of inadequate funding, hence being unconstitutional.

   I see it as very interesting that it appears that these waves laid the foundation for the voucher and school choice programs. Needless to say, NEA and PSEA are against both! While I will continue to challenge the credibility of most charter schools, and allowing school choice, I am beginning to develop a better picture of the, “Everything happens for a reason”, statement.

   Through the budget cuts, accountability of all schools and teachers has raised dramatically. If they pass the bill allowing furloughs of teachers despite their seniority that would be another step in the right direction. But, they would need to go a step further and give schools the right to replace certain teachers, instead of being forced to call them back if an opening exists.

   The problem does still exist and I am still puzzled about “equal and equitable” funding. What if every district across the Commonwealth had the same per pupil dollar amount to educate children?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daHYY1d9W4s&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1