In 1973… the Supreme Court ruled that, “education was not a fundamental right that was protected under the 14th amendment.”

And this decision came down under the pretenses of, “equal protection laws under the US Constitution,” when a family in Texas sued their public school earlier that year. This lawsuit was then brought forth by the Rodriguez family, which at that time believed their school was inequitably financed in comparison to nearby public schools and that this represented a breach of their civil rights! Which is to say… that the Rodriguez family sued their public school system claiming that under the 14th amendment, “the equal protection clause,” their school was more impoverished compared to nearby public schools.

And the exact differences between these schools in question are listed below; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Independent_School_District_v._Rodriguez

• Classroom space: North East had 70.36 square feet (6.537 m²) per student; Edgewood had 50.4 square feet (4.68 m²) per student
• Library books: North East had 9.42 books per student; Edgewood had 3.9 books per student
• Teacher/Pupil Ratio: North East’s ratio was 1/19; Edgewood’s was 1/28
• Counselor/Pupil Ratio: North East’s was 1/1,553 children; Edgewood’s was 1/5,672 (the nearby Alamo Heights district had a 1/1,319 ratio)

Now, as you can see... there are clear differences in the High School’s funding but the Supreme Court’s decision in this case basically laid out the foundation for how public schools are still un-evenly funded today. Whereby, after this trial in a 5-4 decision the US Supreme Court held that education was NOT a fundamental right protected under the 14th amendment and that public school funding could essentially be based upon regional tax revenue(s). But think about what that means and the boundless ramifications… of this one landmark decision from 50 years ago. Furthermore, I personally believe that this one judiciary decision essentially lays the entire foundation for, “systemic class-ism and systemic poverty,” within American public schools today, even 50 years later!

But even more troubling is how this decision from 1973 has remained unchanged. Also, this decision has seemingly occurred because funding certain public schools, greater than other public schools, creates some sort of an intentional, “generational wealth gap,” which in my opinion intentionally indoctrinates poorer school children with the concept of poverty from the on-set of childhood development.

Though, to remain abject I do NOT find that funding is entirely the problem with America's public education system today, either. Whereby, imagine if public schooling was primarily focused upon online education? Or to take that idea one step further, imagine if all of that money going into the NCAA was used for nation-wide classes, online. And imagine if all students posted all of their essays online from K-12 and beyond, in order to show their growth from the onset of public schooling, as well as to display what US tax dollars are teaching these children. Furthermore, this practice in theory could then outline a student’s progress and create, “true educational transparency,” while also encouraging more growth in students at LESS of a cost than schooling today! Also, full transparency would then make cases of inadequate schooling entirely objective based upon the transparent performances of children from school to school...

Whereby, my point here is that not all of the solutions to public education are entirely cost based and if you want financing then show us what these kids are writing for their teachers! And what other solutions exist, for improving American education, that we haven’t even thought of yet? Whereby, in conclusion I believe that America should re-invigorate our education system by acknowledging that the problem may not be financial but may be that posting every student’s work online, for public display… from K through 12... would simply belittle some regions who don't even speak up for themselves based upon merit but instead continue to focus solely upon race and finances.

-William Larsen, Civilians News

*The 14th amendment, Article 1, states;

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. 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.”