By JOHN RICHARD SCHROCK
Earlier this month, the 16 judges on the Sixth Circuit federal court unanimously overturned an April ruling that educators hoped would establish a Constitutional right to read, if not a right to a fuller education.
In 2016, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of seven students in schools in Detroit, Mich. They claimed they had no chance to get a real education because they lacked textbooks, qualified teachers and adequate school buildings. They claimed a Constitutional right to literacy.
In April 23 of this year, Judge Eric Clay issued an opinion that a right-to-read is implicit in the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment reads: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The students agreed to a settlement with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in May. Each of the seven received about $40,000. The Detroit Public School District received $2.7 million. And Governor Whitmer committed to pursuing legislation for additional district funding.
But that agreement also cancelled the students complaint that they had been denied a basic education.
The 16 judges on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals then voted unanimously to dismiss the case. Therefore, Judge Clay’s opinion that there is a ‘”right to read” can no longer be used as a legal precedent. Any legal battle to establish a federal Constitutional right to literacy or education will have to start all over.
Based on the 10th Amendment, since education is not explicitly in the Constitution, it is a state right and responsibility. Therefore each state does oversee its public schools with education funding usually consuming about half of the state budget.
My colleagues in Asia find our dispute puzzling. Whether we are placing responsibility for education on state or federal government seems odd to Asian societies. They place education at the top of their cultural and personal priorities.
As parent or grandparent, your foremost duty is to ensure that your child or grandchild receives the best education possible. You save for tuition, even if it means going hungry. If your child scores high enough to go to a better school across town, you send them to live with a relative in that district.
In Singapore, South Korea, China mainland, Hong Kong or Taiwan, there will be good school buildings and textbooks and qualified teachers because the pressure comes from the parents and grandparents. Any government official at any level who shortchanges schools would have a short tenure.
Education for all children is considered such a universal good in Asian culture that our reliance on paper documents and legal interpretations seems irrelevant.
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John Richard Schrock has trained biology teachers for more than 30 years in Kansas. He also has lectured at 27 universities in 20 trips to China. He holds the distinction of “Faculty Emeritus” at Emporia State University.