Federal lawsuit says R.I. fails to prepare students to be informed citizens
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of 14 students claims that Rhode Island's public schools do not prepare students for active life in a democracy.
The suit, filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court by a New York law professor and the Rhode Island Center for Justice, claims that the U.S. Constitution guarantees that all students should have access to an education that prepares them to participate in their civic duties — whether that involves the right to free speech, the right to vote, or sitting on a jury.
"This case has tremendous significance for students in Rhode Island and for students in the United States," said Professor Michael Rebell, executive director of the Center for Education Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University. "This is a class-action suit that involves tens of thousands of students in Rhode Island."
The suit, believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, names as defendants Gov. Gina Raimondo, the state Department of Education, the leaders of the General Assembly and others. The suit contends that these officials have failed to provide students the education they need to be fully functioning members of a civil society.
As a child, Aleita Cook, a senior at the Providence Career and Technical Academy and one of the plaintiffs, said she has struggled with English and math, but said she never got the extra help she needed.
"This case is bigger than me," she said. "I'm doing this for my little brothers and sisters."
Raimondo said her administration will look at the lawsuit, "but according to news reports, it appears similar cases have already been litigated two other times in state courts. We don’t have further comment on pending litigation and direct questions about the case to the Attorney General."
The suit points to a woeful lack of knowledge about the workings of government. Less than a third of eighth-graders understand the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. In 2006, fewer than half of Americans could name the three branches of government. And only one in five Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 reads a newspaper.
Asked why the lawyers picked Rhode Island, Rebell said the state doesn't have a civics education requirement, doesn't require teachers to be trained in civics, and doesn't test students on their knowledge of civics and American history. He also said that the position of social science coordinator within the state Department of Education has been vacant for six months.
The Rhode Island Department of Education said it requires three years of history/social studies to graduate, and has grade-level standards that specifically talk about civics.
With the dawn of the federal education law, No Child Left Behind, many states, including Rhode Island, dedicated most of their resources to improving math and English performance. Since that's what states tested on their standardized assessments -- and that's how schools were evaluated -- civics education took a back seat.
Rhode Island lawyers have asked state courts to establish a Constitutional right to a fair and equitable education on two previous occasions. In both suits, however, the state Supreme Court ruled that this issue of school funding should be left to the General Assembly.
Jennifer Wood, a lawyer with the Rhode Island Center for Justice, a nonprofit law firm, called the plaintiffs "a courageous group of students and families who have agreed to stand up for all of the students in Rhode Island."
Ahmed Sesay, a senior at Classical High School, said in his 12 years in the public schools, no one taught him how government works, nor had he taken a civics class.
"This case is super important to me," he said, "Our school system is inherently failing so many students by not giving them the information they need to contribute productively to making changes in this country. As a senior, it would have been the icing on the cake to have learned about where education funding comes from. When you don't teach civics, students simply feel left behind or apathetic."
Since the early 1970s, lawsuits calling out unequal education funding have been brought in 47 states, Rebell said. In approximately 60 percent of those cases, the courts have ruled that students have a Constitutional right to an adequate education. Rhode Island was not among them.
Rebell sees a window of opportunity in a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in which students from a poor school district in Texas argued that they were being denied the right to an adequate education because a neighboring district got twice as much state money.
Although the Supreme Court ruled against the students, one of the dissenters, Justice Thurgood Marshall, argued that every citizen has a constitutional right to vote and exercise his right to free speech. No one, he said, can exercise those rights without access to a basic education.
If the U.S. District Court rules in the Rhode Island students' favor, Rebell said the suit might have a chance before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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On Twitter: @lborgprojocom