The Right to A Public Education of Equal High Quality Amendment
"Reading is a new civil right." GOP Presidential Nominee George W. Bush, Philadelphia, PA, August 3, 2000.
Attorney General John Ashcroft sent a letter to the National Rifle Association on May 17, 2001, asserting that every American has a RIGHT TO A GUN. He wrote: "Let me state unequivocally my view that the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms." It's interesting that Mr. Ashcroft's letter was sent on the 47th anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown decision, which declared Plessy v. Ferguson's segregationist "separate but equal" doctrine unconstitutional. It's also an ironic contrast to the fact that there's NO RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION in the Constitution!
"The right to an education is not guaranteed, either explicitly or implicitly, by the Constitution, and therefore could not constitute a fundamental right." U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey Decatur Illinois School Board Ruling, January 11, 2000.
That's why Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. - believing that EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT - has proposed to add an education amendment to the U. S. Constitution based on the RIGHT of all Americans to have a public education of equal high quality. It was introduced in the U.S. House as H.J. Res. 29:
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), that the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:
'SECTION 1. All citizens of the United States shall enjoy the right to a public education of equal high quality.
'SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to implement this article by appropriate legislation'."
The 10th Amendment to the Constitution states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the State, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Since the word "education" does not appear in the Constitution, education is a "state right."
As a result, a "states' rights" educational system is structured to be "separate and unequal" - 50 states, 3,067 counties, tens of thousands of cities, 15,000 school districts, and 85,000 schools - all "separate and unequal," each with varying degrees of opportunity, funding and quality. There's ONLY ONE WAY to legally guarantee "a public education of equal high quality" to every American - add an education amendment to the Constitution!
If Americans had a choice between the RIGHT TO A GUN and the RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION, it would be nearly unanimous. Americans would choose education! If that is the priority of the American people, then we should have the wisdom and political will to codify it in the form of a constitutional amendment.
What are the advantages of fighting for human rights and constitutional amendments? Human rights and constitutional amendments are non-partisan (they're neither Democratic nor Republican), they're non-ideological (they're not liberal, moderate, or conservative), and they're non-programmatic (they don't require a particular means, approach or program to realize them). They're also not a "special interest."
If we pass a new education amendment, the next civil rights movement will emerge fighting for congressional legislation - while also using the federal courts - to implement the Education Rights Amendment.
Speeches and articles:
- September 13, 2003: The Right To An Education Of Equal High Quality
Perfect Union:
- September 15, 2005: Johathan Kozol on Education
- April 26, 2004: Brown Decision at 50
- May 13, 2003: Education Amendment
