Literacy Not A Right For Detroit School Kids According To State

[darth frosty]

Mannnn these Repugs I tell ya


http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/11/21/literacy-not-a-right-for-detroit-school-kids-says-state/

Literacy Not A Right For Detroit School Kids According To State
November 21, 2016 10:27 AM
Filed Under: Literacy



DETROIT (CBS Detroit) – Detroit school children have no fundamental right to literacy, according to Gov. Rick Snyder’s attorneys, in the midst of a suit claiming the poor reading skills of Detroit students at five schools, deplorable building conditions, and lack of basic classroom necessities are the fault of the state.

A California public interest law firm is representing seven Detroit public school students who believe the education they are getting is substandard and essentially want the courts to rule that literacy is a fundamental constitutional right reports WWJ legal analyst Charlie Langton.

The suit looks to establish that literacy is a U.S. constitutional right.

“Decades of State disinvestment in and deliberate indifference to Detroit schools have denied Plaintiff schoolchildren access to the most basic building block of education: literacy,” the suit claims at its start.

The lawsuit says the schools are in “slum-like conditions” and “functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy.” The case, filed in federal court, directly accuses Gov. Rick Snyder, the state school board and others of violating the civil rights of low-income students.

The lawsuit could face some challenges says Langton, adding that while there are some difficulties with Detroit public schools, the judge could say that the solution may be better addressed by the elected school board, or through the political process.

In January, a review of Detroit school buildings uncovered mold, water damage and rodents – this after teacher sick-outs in protest of working conditions within the deteriorating school buildings.

A 2011 report showed 47 percent of Detroiters were functionally illiterate— meaning nearly half of they were not able to fill out basic forms for getting a job or having a command over basic understanding for such things as reading a prescription bottle.

The judge will conduct a hearing in February.

 

[darth frosty]

Here is the link to the actual comments from the Gov

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/218953461-story

State of Michigan tells Detroit students "Literacy is not a right?
Is literacy a right? not according to the state of Michigan.
By: M.L. Elrick
POSTED:NOV 21 2016 05:25PM EST

UPDATED:NOV 21 2016 05:40PM EST

DETROIT (WJBK) -
Attorneys for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder are asking a judge to toss out a lawsuit against the state of Michigan filed by students in the Detroit school system and claim that literacy is not a legal right in the state of Michigan.

Seven children filed the lawsuit in September, saying decades of state dis-investment and deliberate indifference to Detroit's schools have denied them access to literacy.

The plaintiffs say the schools have deplorable building conditions, lack of books, classrooms without teachers, insufficient desks, buildings plagued by vermin, unsafe facilities and extreme temperatures.

The Michigan Attorney General asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit arguing that Detroit schools are obligated to ensure that kids learn how to read and write. The state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit says: "there is no fundamental right to literacy".

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Detroit school children by Public Counsel, a California-based law firm dedicated to helping the underprivileged. They're suing the state because they claim the state has been responsible for education since 1999 - when the state took over Detroit Public Schools.

"I think everybody wants to work together to improve educational outcomes for our kids. If it's a question of the legal requirements - that's the subject matter of the lawsuit - in terms of spirits, all of us have been trying to work to improve education in Michigan for every child," Gov. Snyder said on Monday.

State lawyers dispute that argument and say that "Michigan's constitution requires only that the legislature provide for a system of free public schools", leaving the details and deliver to specific educational services to the local school districts.

In other words, the state must provide for schools, but there's no obligation to make them work.

Nevertheless, the governor says the state has done a lot to help improve public education.

"We work hard on the education of kids. We've invested a lot of money on the state level but we need to get better outcomes. That's something I've been focused on ever since I've been governor - improving education in Michigan. We've made a lot of advances and there's more work to be done," Snyder said.

 

[thundercat]

Wow...

 

[gene cisco]

More of the same. ACLU tried this in 2012. They lost. Education is supposedly encouraged, but not a right. So if education isn't mandatory according to them, I guess truancy no longer exists in Michigan.

http://michiganradio.org/post/michi...read-case-against-state-highland-park-schools

The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to hear a case that alleges the state and the struggling Highland Park school district are failing in their legal obligation to adequately educate students.

The so-called “right-to-read” lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU says the state and local districts have a legal obligation to meet certain education standards, or face consequences.

The ACLU’s Kary Moss says the Supreme Court’s decision is bad for students in low-performing districts.

“When the courts don’t take the responsibility for making sure that the whole system works, it just puts increased pressure on the Legislature to do that,” she said.

The ACLU won an early court decision. But the Michigan Court of Appeals said the controversy cannot be settled by the legal system. The state Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case essentially upholds that decision.

“Detroit and major urban areas are never going to recover economically until our education system gets fixed,” Moss said.

A bill before the Legislature would require schools to provide the resources to ensure that students are reading at their age-appropriate level by the third grade.


http://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ppeals-dismissal-right-read-lawsuit/20600443/

The Michigan Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, dismissed the lawsuit in November, saying that while the constitution encourages education it doesn't mandate it. The court also said the role of the state in education isn't as encompassing as the ACLU argued.

"In sum, the cited provisions of the Michigan Constitution require only that the Legislature provide for and finance a system of free public schools," the court said in its ruling. "The Michigan Constitution leaves the actual intricacies of the delivery of specific educational services to the local school districts."

 

[darth frosty]