U.S. Appeals Court Recognizes a Federal Right of Access to Literacy via EdWeek

U.S. Appeals Court Recognizes a Federal Right of Access to Literacy

EdWeek: 4.23.2020 by Mark Walsh

In a groundbreaking decision, a federal appeals court on Thursday recognized a fundamental federal right to a basic minimum education and access to literacy.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, revives a lawsuit brought on behalf of a group of Detroit schoolchildren over poor conditions in that city's schools, which have been under varying degrees of state control in recent years.

"The recognition of a fundamental right is no small matter," said the 6th Circuit court in Gary B. v. Whitmer. "Where, as plaintiffs allege here, a group of children is relegated to a school system that does not provide even a plausible chance to attain literacy, we hold that the Constitution provides them with a remedy."

The majority rejected the plaintiffs' arguments based on the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause and on compulsory school attendance laws. But it recognized the rights to a basic minimum education and access to literacy as part of the 14th Amendment's guarantee of substantive due process, which is how the court has recognized rights beyond procedural due process that aren't mentioned in the Constitution, such as the right to privacy and bodily integrity.

"Plaintiffs contend that access to literary, as opposed to other educational achievements, is a gateway milestone, one that unlocks the basic exercise of other fundamental rights, including the possibility of political participation," said the court. "While the [U.S.] Supreme Court has repeatedly discussed this issue, it has never decided it, and the question of whether such a right exists remains open today."

Education as 'Social Equalizer'

The majority opinion by U.S. Circuit Judge Eric L. Clay, joined by Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, meticulously went through Supreme Court decisions on fundamental parental rights to oversee the education and upbringing of their children, its rulings rejecting a fundamental right to education and holding that a state could not deny public education to immigrant children, and the historical significance of race in U.S. education.

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A federal district judge, though sympathetic to the plaintiffs claims, held in 2018 that the Constitution does not recognize a right to literacy.

But the 6th Circuit's decision now revives the suit.

"Beyond the abstract question of whether there is a fundamental right to a basic minimum education, plaintiffs must also have plausibly alleged that they were deprived of such an education," the majority said. "Looking at their complaint as a whole, plaintiffs' allegations—if proven true—would demonstrate that they have been deprived of an education providing access to literacy."

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The right would seem to include three basic components, the court said: facilities, teaching, and educational materials, such as books.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. Old

(Twelfth graders)