Educational Equity And Rodriguez And Their Aftermath Summary

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In his address to Columbia University, titled, “Educational Equity and Quality: Brown and Rodriguez and Their Aftermath,” Lee Bollinger discusses the issues of educational inequity and inadequacy still present today, fifty years after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954. According to Bollinger, education is “the very foundation of good citizenship.” It exposes children to cultural values, prepares them for professional training, helps them adjust to their environment, and teaches them work independently and with others. It can be argued quite convincingly that a child cannot succeed in life without an education or without a proper education.
Bollinger first discusses Brown vs. BOE. This case defined what “equal educational opportunity” …show more content…

This is a problem when a local community is too poor to put in enough money to fund schools. This was what caused the court case Rodriguez vs. San Antonio Independent School District, 411 US 1 in 1973. This school was composed of Hispanic and African American students. Parents and students spoke up in response to inadequate supplies and lack of qualified teachers. The plaintiffs argued that school district had one of the highest tax rates in the county by raised less per student than the nearby wealthy, predominantly white district. Unfortunately for them, the Supreme Court rejected argument that the disparities in funding among the school districts went against the Constitution. They said that under the Constitution, education was not a fundamental right. In response, parent Demetrio Rodriguez spoke, “The poor people have lost …show more content…

In his address, Bollinger calls for a national constitutional norm in order to balance the different public education systems and to fix injustices. Schools in the United States were created to be under local control because of the largely agricultural society and the belief that education benefitted the individual and the community where he lived. He informs us that this changed in the nineteenth century when “the Morrill Act’s creation of the Land Grant colleges during the Civil Way reflected the nation’s new recognition that the economic and social benefits of education flow not only to the student but also to the state and the economy at

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