Does the U.S. Constitution guarantee a right to education? The Supreme Court declared that it does not in "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez," a 1973 case alleging that disparities in spending levels among Texas school districts violated students' constitutional rights. This issue's forum contains two essays. The first…

Educational theorists frequently invoke rights claims to express their views about educational justice and authority. But the unyielding nature of rights claims presents a significant quandary in democratic contexts, given the tension between rights claims and majoritarian democracy. Educational theorists have given limited attention to this…

The state's commitment to educating all children can be framed as a matter of human capital development, or the economic benefits accrued to individuals and society as a result of educational attainment; it can be framed as a matter of capabilities, or the development of functionings that enable human flourishing; and it can be framed as a matter…

A full understanding of disability recognizes that it has a powerful human rights dimension and is often associated with social exclusion, and increased exposure and vulnerability to poverty. Disability is a human rights issue. The World Bank (1999) report points out that one in five of the world's poorest are disabled, for whom access to basic…

For many decades, the six national disability advocacy organizations that endorse the legislative agenda contained in this document have recognized the vital role the federal government plays in the everyday lives of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families. From civil rights protections to community housing, from…

By the time he left office, President Bush's faith-based initiative had become a kind of stand-in for his entire presidency. Whenever something went wrong on Bush's watch it was tarred as yet another "faith-based" policy. As the 2008 presidential election began to take shape, with the Democrats newly in charge of both the House and the Senate and…

A pervasive anti-statism often blinds us to the democratic victories in the past and thus to possibilities in our future. This article argues that big government can democratize society and uses historical investigation to make the point. The study of history emancipates us from the tyranny of the present. Progressive social change has come about…

In June 2004, the American national media spent a considerable amount of airtime revisiting the events of June 1964 when three civil rights workers were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi. On the fortieth anniversary of the murders. National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" devoted airtime to a story, "Truth and Reconciliation in…

This September, Oxford University Press is publishing "Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can't End the Battle Over Guns." Written by Mark Tushnet, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, "Out of Range" explores competing interpretations of the Second Amendment and discusses how the entanglement of…

The internet continues to provide new and interesting solutions to age-old problems; this paper explores how education could benefit from online solutions. The history of public education in the U.S. is fractured at best, based on a system reliant on state and local control. As new legislation came into place to meet the needs of civil rights…

This essay examines Leo Strauss's pedagogical method in his teaching on rights. The goal in this essay is not to present Strauss's argument for or against any particular conception of rights. In fact, it is to dissuade readers of Strauss from seeking such conclusions within Strauss's texts, and to argue that readers' attention turn toward the…

In suggesting that affirmative action goals and timetables cause racial tension, and in recommending reliance on "free and automatic" access to economic opportunities, the chairperson of the Commission on Civil Rights makes the commission a political parrot of current administrative policy rather than a strong advocate of federal…

Examines presidential attitudes toward education and speculates on how a second Reagan term or a Mondale presidency would affect education. (MD)

Abourezk holds that Arab Americans are victims of much racial hatred and stereotyping and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been the primary governmental agency abusing the civil rights of this group. Revell, an official of the FBI, counters Abourezk's contentions. (GC)

Judicial intervention in educational matters supplements the legislative actions of the Constitution in protecting the rights of children. (LH)