ADVOCATING EDUCATIONAL ADEQUACY AND MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY: THE BALL IS IN THE STATE COURTS

Poverty in the United States of America continues to present a seemingly intractable problem for our society. The percentage of Americans living in poverty climbed to 14.3 percent in 2009, the highest level recorded since 1994. The Census Bureau reported that one in five children is now affected by poverty. One of the foremost problems faced by impoverished Americans, who are disproportionately people of color or Hispanic origin, is the lack of adequate educational opportunity that is necessary to break the cycle of poverty. The benefits that accrued when the United States Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 did not extend to educational financing; indeed, the “egalitarian vision” of Brown was curtailed in this area by the Court’s subsequent decision in the Rodriguez case in 1973. View More