Connecticut’s highest court ruled on Monday that the State Constitution guarantees public-school students a “suitable” education that prepares them for the work force or postsecondary education, the Connecticut Law Tribune reported. The 4-3 decision allows a lawsuit to go forward to determine if the state’s current system of support for public schools does in fact provide students with “a constitutionally adequate education.” The ruling is consistent with the outcome of similar cases in several other states, including Kansas, Massachusetts, and Montana, where judges ruled that lawmakers were providing too little money for public schools.
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One Response to Connecticut Supreme Court Rules That Public Schools Must Provide an Adequate Education
willynilly - March 23, 2010 at 10:11 am
The Devil is always in the details. What is the precise definition of “Adequate Education”? Without a complete listing of what learning experiences comprise an “adequate education”, it will be impossible to determine if each school has achieved the goal of an “adequate education”. Notice that the language of the lawsuit seeks to determine if the schools are providing “students” with an “adequate education”. This suggests that it is not enough for the school to simply offer on paper what it believes is “adequate”. It seems to go to the question of whether the students have achieved mastery of the “offered adequate education”. That suggests the need to measure “student mastery”, which is a much higher standard of performance than simply demonstrating that the school offers a “suitable” education. Teachers/administrators, are your ready for that level of scrutiny?