Preston C. Green

School Finance Litigation: The Promises and Limitations of the Third Wave

Equity and adequacy in school finance has been a concern of scholars and reformers since the early 1900s and became a subject of court litigation in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite intensified school finance litigation and legislation over the past several decades, school systems in the United States continue their struggle to operate equitably and adequately. This persistent inequity, both in terms of educational inputs and outcomes, has generated a long and complex series of lawsuits, which we attempt to summarize in this article.

Tricks of the Trade: State Legislative Actions in School Finance Policy that Perpetuate Racial Disparities in the Post-Brown Era.

This article discusses the tricks of the trade that legislatures in formerly de jure segregated states might use to maintain racial funding disparities in existence before Brown and whether such ploys might be vulnerable to legal challenges. The first section provides an overview of modern school finance formulas and explains how legislatures in de jure segregated states might use state aid policies to produce racial funding disparities. The second section, through macrolevel, quantitative analyses, identifies those states where state aid is allocated such that minority populations are disadvantaged and where that disadvantage is subsequently reflected in total state and local revenue. The third section presents in‐depth case analyses of racial disparities in Kansas and Alabama that were identified through macrolevel analyses. The final section analyzes possible legal challenges that plaintiffs in those formerly de jure segregated states identified in our case analyses may bring to racially neutral state aid policies that place minority school districts at a financial disadvantage.

The Impact of Law on African American Males

This article analyzes whether federal and state constitutional and statutory provisions sufficiently protect African American male students from racism in public education. The first section explains how structural racism and unconscious racism have worked in tandem to prevent many African American males from experiencing the promise of equal educational opportunity in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The second section examines the two federal laws that are primarily invoked to protect African Americans from governmental discrimination: (a) the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and (b) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The third section explains whether legal arguments arising from the accountability movement might enable African American males to obtain remedies from the effects of structural and unconscious racism. Three provisions are examined: (a) the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, (b) state education clauses, and (c) the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Re‐examining race‐based admissions processes of American institutions of higher education using multi‐dimensional ethical perspectives

The Supreme Court of the USA explains when universities may use race‐based admissions policies without violating the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. These rulings raise important ethical issues for universities that are presently using race as a consideration in their admissions decisions. This paper discusses some of the ethical issues presented by the Supreme Courts decisions in the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Grutter v. Bollinger, and Gratz v. Bollinger cases. A summary of the Bakke, Grutter, and Gratz cases is provided as well as an analysis of these decisions using an ethical framework that incorporates five perspectives: ethic of critique, ethic of justice, ethic of profession, ethic of care, and ethic of community. The accompanying discussion highlights areas of agreement and conflict between the goals of race‐based university admissions policies and the Bakke, Gratz, and Grutter decisions.

Non-Religion-Based State Constitutional Challenges to Educational Voucher and Tax Credit Programs

This article provides an overview of non-religion-based state constitutional challenges to educational voucher and tax credit/scholarship programs. The first section discusses litigation examining whether education voucher programs violate constitutional provisions requiring the legislature to provide an efficient system of public schools. The second section looks at litigation examining whether educational voucher programs violate constitutional provisions requiring states to provide a uniform system of public schools. The third section summarizes case law in which plaintiffs have claimed that educational voucher programs violate constitutional requirements that state spending serve a public purpose. The fourth section discusses litigation in which courts have addressed whether educational voucher programs violate local control mandates. The fifth section evaluates challenges to education voucher and scholarship tax credits on the grounds that such policies contravene constitutional mandates that prohibit public spending to private schools. The final section identifies key themes that these non-religion-based state constitutional challenges raise for educational vouchers and tax credit programs as well as emerging issues of litigation.

Cyber Charter Schools and Students with Dis/abilities: Rebooting the IDEA to Address Equity, Access, and Compliance.

This article takes up the question of equity, access, and cyber charter schools from the perspective of disability studies in education (DSE). DSE positions inclusion and educational access as social justice concerns. In doing so, we assert the importance of making visible the social justice implications of the current laws that impact cyber charter schools and students with disabilities. To this end we focus in particular on the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA) because it is the central piece of federal legislation that provides for the public education of students with disabilities. Our analysis suggests several changes in the IDEA and state level legislation in order for cyber charter schools to be an available and equitable option for students with disabilities.

The No Child Left behind Act of 2001 and Charter Schools

Supporters of charter schools tend to also be the supporters of 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) regarding choice in education. Many minority parents and their children are disappointed with school desegregation benefits and the pace of school finance reform is embracing choice schools such as charter schools. Charter schools are public schools with a specific mission free from the local school district, and are administered by a group of parents. Charter schools proponents argue that minorities will receive an education superior to traditional public schools. We argue that charter schools combined with accountability goals of NCLB by racial subgroups should enhance the academic achievement of minority students. We also assess the combination of the school choice paradigm with a focus on the interaction of charter schools and NCLB.

Assessing the Role of the Courts in Addressing the Educational Problems Caused by Racial Isolation in School Finance Litigation

Since the separate-but-equal era, students attending schools with high concentrations of Black students have attempted to improve the quality of their educations through school finance litigation. Because of the negative effects of racial isolation, Black students might consider mounting school finance litigation to force states to explicitly address the problems experienced by school districts with high concentrations of Black students (Green, Baker, & Oluwole, 2008). This article assesses the role of the courts in remedying the disparities experienced by high-concentration Black school districts through school finance litigation. The first section provides a brief overview of prior attempts to challenge racial funding disparities in the federal courts. The second section discusses the importance of considering race in future school finance litigation. The third section assesses whether plaintiffs from high-concentration Black school districts can obtain equal educational opportunity through state courts.