Public school students from Rhode Island will today ask a federal appeals court to affirm civic education as a constitutional right. Representing the plaintiffs, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Michael Rebell 鈥� Professor of Law and Educational Practice 鈥� will challenge state officials in the latest round of the three-year proceedings.
The case, , argues that all students throughout the country must be provided an education that prepares them to 鈥渆xercise their civic responsibilities and maintain a vibrant democratic society.鈥�
For Rebell, who also leads the College鈥檚 , the extreme polarizing of our politics only reaffirms the critical need for a robust curriculum on the democratic process and civic life.
鈥淐ivic education is not a Republican or Democratic issue, not a liberal or conservative issue. People on all sides of the political spectrum tend to agree on it,鈥� Rebell told the Boston Globe last week. While conservatives and liberals differ over exactly what should be taught in classrooms, 鈥渆veryone agrees we need to prepare our children for a democratic society,鈥� he said.
[An archived recording of the appeals court proceedings is .]
Last year, a federal district judge issued a remarkable ruling praising the students for demanding a better civic education. But he dismissed their claim this education was a right under the Constitution.
Michael Rebell, Professor of Law and Educational Practice, and the Executive Director of the Center for Educational Equity. (Photo: 麻豆原创 Archives)
鈥淭his is what it all comes down to: we may choose to survive as a country by respecting our Constitution, the laws and norms of political and civic behavior, and by educating our children on civics, the rule of law, and what it really means to be an American, and what America means,鈥� wrote Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island at the time. 鈥淥r, we may ignore these things at our and their peril. Unfortunately, this Court cannot, for the reasons explained below, deliver or dictate the solution 鈥� but, in denying that relief, I hope I can at least call out the need for it.鈥�
Rebell鈥檚 intention to appeal the ruling began almost immediately, focusing the case鈥檚 key issues to equal protection and substantive due process. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking for a meaningful education, more than bare literacy or elementary knowledge,鈥� Rebell explained at the time. He believes that to confront the 鈥渃rack鈥� the Supreme Court left open in the Rodriguez case, and to fulfill the promise of Brown, the federal courts need to examine what young people need to know, and what skills, experiences, and dispositions they need, to be prepared for civic life in a democracy.
This is a developing story.