The nature of the interests in education that are protected by the Constitution may be ascertained by reference to certain due process and equal protection decisions of the Supreme Court reviewed in this paper. Although education is not a right granted by the Constitution, the Court has often recognized the importance of education, both to the individual and to the society. It seems that in terms of constitutional protections the Court has now accorded a sort of favored legal status to education although the exact nature of this status is unclear. The basic education necessary for functional literacy may be the extent of the protected interest. Although how this level of education is to be defined or measured is uncertain, what does seem clear is that the Constitution protects the individual against inequitable and unfair state action. Whatever educational opportunities the state does choose to provide, neither a discrete class nor a single individual may be unfairly excluded from access to those opportunities. Although the Fourteenth Amendment does not extend to every person the guarantee of success, the concepts of due process and equal protection do shield each person from state-imposed failure. (Author/JM)