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The brief proposes a unified definition of the constitutional right to education, linking equal educational opportunity to both equitable funding and diverse learning environments.",{"@graph":14,"@context":71},[15,34,54],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/equity-and-diversity-defining-the-right-to-education-for-the-21st-century/583835/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":48,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":49,"interactionStatistic":50},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/equity-and-diversity-defining-the-right-to-education-for-the-21st-century/583835.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Connor ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":51,"interactionType":52,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":53},"ViewAction",{"@type":55,"mainEntity":56},"FAQPage",[57,63,67],{"name":58,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":60},"Why does the United States not have an explicit constitutional right to education?","Question",{"text":61,"@type":62},"The document states there is no explicit right to education in the U.S. Constitution, and the Supreme Court has not recognized education as a fundamental interest tied to core citizenship rights.","Answer",{"name":64,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":65},"What two structural deficits shape public education in the United States?",{"text":66,"@type":62},"It identifies (1) the diversion of low-income and Black and Brown students into under-resourced districts, and (2) the intense isolation of students by race and socioeconomic status in segregated schools.",{"name":68,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":69},"What approach does the brief propose for defining equal educational opportunity?",{"text":70,"@type":62},"It argues for a unified definition that includes both equitable funding and access to education in diverse schools and learning environments, moving beyond an equity-versus-diversity dichotomy.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":73,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":75,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":77,"site_id":7},583835,1792078670,{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":81},"success",[82,86,90,94,99,104,108,113,118,121,125],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":83,"show_sort_weight":84,"slug":85},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":87,"show_sort_weight":88,"slug":89},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":120},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":124},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":128},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":130},{"doc_id":77,"user_id":131,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":105,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":138,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},687207022233,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Equity and Diversity  \nDEFINING THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION  \nFOR THE 21 ST CENTURY  \nDAVID G. SCIARRA SPRING 2023  \nEDUCATION LAW CENTER  \nFounded in 1973, Education Law Center (ELC) is the nation’s legal defense fund for public education rights. ELC is widely recognized for successfully advancing equal educational opportunity and justice in New Jersey and states across the country. ELC pursues advocacy work through litigation, public engagement, policy development, research, and communications  \nELC’s legal and policy advocacy, which includes the landmark court rulings in the Abbott v. Burke litigation, has significantly advanced the provision of fair school funding, high quality preschool and school facilities improvements, especially for students from low-income families and students of color. ELC’s mission is to ensure all students receive a high-quality public education effectively preparing them to participate as citizens in a democratic society and as valued contributors to a robust economy.  \nTo find out more about our work, please visit [www.edlawcenter.org](www.edlawcenter.org).  \nABOUT THE AUTHOR  \nDavid G. Sciarra, Esq., is Executive Director of Education Law Center. A practicing civil rights lawyer since 1978, he directs ELC’s advocacy program to enforce education rights for the nation’s public school students. He serves as lead counsel to the plaintiff students in New Jersey’s landmark Abbott v. Burke school finance litigation and writes and lectures on education law and policy.  \nACKNOWLEDGMENTS  \nThe author extends appreciation to ELC consultant Leigh Dingerson for her invaluable assistance in the research, content, and writing of this report; to the Hatcher Group for report design; and to Sharon Krengel for coordinating design and publication. This report was conceived and written to commemorate ELC’s 50th anniversary of advocacy on behalf of the nation’s public schoolchildren. We extend our appreciation to the many funders and allies who support ELC’s mission and work and without whom this milestone anniversary could not have been reached.  \n© February 2023 Education Law Center, Inc., Newark, NJ. All rights reserved.  \nAs  \nwe approach the first quarter mark of the 21st century, two structural deficits  \ncontinue to define the landscape of public education in the United States. The first is the consignment of low-income and Black and Brown students to a subset of districts deprived of the funding and resources essential for student success. The second is the intense isolation of students by race and socioeconomic status in segregated districts and schools not reflective of the multiracial and multicultural society they will enter as adults.  \nThere is no explicit right to education in the United States Constitution. And while our democracy requires an informed and engaged citizenry, the U. S. Supreme Court has not recognized education as a fundamental interest necessary to effectuate the core rights of citizenship: speech, assembly, and voting.  \nIn our country, the right to education resides in the states. Every state constitution affirmatively requires state legislatures to maintain and support a system of elementary and secondary schools open to all resident children. Although the language of these constitutional provisions varies, in all cases they mandate states, through their elected officials, to guarantee all children access to a free public education.1  \nThe states, and not the federal government, are constitutionally obligated to provide education to the nation’s school children. In striking down state laws that compelled racially segregated schools, the United States Supreme Court in its 1955 Brown v. Board of  \nEducation II ruling made clear that the opportunity for an education provided by the states “is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”  \nYet consensus on a working definition of the “right” to“equal educational opportunity” and what is essential to deliver it has been elus","cbCailJ6dWtMUqTf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailJ6dWtMUqTf","pdf",4530381,18,"English","# Equity and Diversity\n## Defining the right to education\n## Structural deficits in U.S. public education\n## Where the right to education resides","[{\"question\":\"Why does the United States not have an explicit constitutional right to education?\",\"answer\":\"The document states there is no explicit right to education in the U.S. Constitution, and the Supreme Court has not recognized education as a fundamental interest tied to core citizenship rights.\"},{\"question\":\"What two structural deficits shape public education in the United States?\",\"answer\":\"It identifies (1) the diversion of low-income and Black and Brown students into under-resourced districts, and (2) the intense isolation of students by race and socioeconomic status in segregated schools.\"},{\"question\":\"What approach does the brief propose for defining equal educational opportunity?\",\"answer\":\"It argues for a unified definition that includes both equitable funding and access to education in diverse schools and learning environments, moving beyond an equity-versus-diversity dichotomy.\"}]","Equity and Diversity - Defining the Right to Education for the 21st Century | PDF",1792048648,45]