Should States Be Sued for Providing Low-Quality Schools?
How’s this for a summer blockbuster – the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state of Michigan in general, and one local school district in particular, for violating the “right to learn” of all Michigan children, a right that is guaranteed under an obscure state law stating that any “pupil who does not score satisfactorily on the 4th or 7th grade . . . reading test shall be provided special assistance reasonably expected to enable the pupil to bring his or her reading skills to grade level within 12 months.”
That assistance hasn’t happened, says Kary L. Moss, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the ACLU. “The Highland Park School District is among the lowest-performing districts in the nation, graduating class after class of children who are not literate. Our lawsuit . . . says that if education is to mean anything, it means that
That assistance hasn’t happened, says Kary L. Moss, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the ACLU. “The Highland Park School District is among the lowest-performing districts in the nation, graduating class after class of children who are not literate. Our lawsuit . . . says that if education is to mean anything, it means that