by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
In 1973, the US Supreme Court refused to remedy severe education funding inequities existing in every state. Since then education finance reform has flooded state courts. It’s a sad commentary that the fight for equity is still being fought all over the nation.
A new book, A Quality Education for Every Child: Stories from the Lawyers on the Front Lines, chronicles that litigation in 17 states--New York, Pennsylvania and Texas among them in both urban and rural areas.
Lawyers each wrote a chapter, not too technical for a non-lawyer, as they explained obstacles they faced. It was heartening to learn that 60% of the cases were won.
What comes through however, although the stories are about financing quality schooling, in many cases cited the money was there but the will was not. Politics had supplanted the needs of kids and elected officials were not living up to their fiscal responsibilities.
At the conclusion of the Kansas cases is the phrase…“the ultimate lesson learned is that the fight is worth it.”
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