Event Title
Practical rights?: understanding local experiences of federal decisions
Description
Public education is at the center of the American debate over the way that race impacts the practical application of rights. The right most at issue is the right to equality codified in the fourteenth amendment. Since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Supreme Court has issued numerous decisions interpreting the right to equal protection in the context of education. These decisions have resulted in limiting the right to equal education to within school district boundaries. Implicit in the legal interpretation is that race is a central factor in determining whether a student’s right to equal education is being fulfilled. The legal history of interpretation of the right to equality is long, however, there is little understanding of what that right means to those currently experiencing public education. Given the realities of residential segregation, does the right to equal education retain meaning for those most immediately concerned? The question behind this question is: does the right to equal education play a role in the lives of students at all?
Document Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2008 8:00 AM
Subject - LCSH
Right to education--Social aspects--United States; Right to education--Political aspects--United States; Education and state--United States; Discrimination in education--United States
End Date
8-3-2008 5:00 PM
Session
Political Geographies
Genre/Form
abstracts (summaries)
Type
event
Geographic Coverage
United States
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Keywords
rights, equality, education, race, scale
Practical rights?: understanding local experiences of federal decisions
Public education is at the center of the American debate over the way that race impacts the practical application of rights. The right most at issue is the right to equality codified in the fourteenth amendment. Since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Supreme Court has issued numerous decisions interpreting the right to equal protection in the context of education. These decisions have resulted in limiting the right to equal education to within school district boundaries. Implicit in the legal interpretation is that race is a central factor in determining whether a student’s right to equal education is being fulfilled. The legal history of interpretation of the right to equality is long, however, there is little understanding of what that right means to those currently experiencing public education. Given the realities of residential segregation, does the right to equal education retain meaning for those most immediately concerned? The question behind this question is: does the right to equal education play a role in the lives of students at all?