Educational Adequacy Lawsuits: The Rest of the Story. PEPG 04-07

In any discussion over what reform measures can best close the achievement gap between white and minority children, one cannot ignore what the courts have had to say about the issue. Advocates have historically used the court system to require elected branches of government to increase education spending and resources, even when the political will to do so is absent. Such educational enhancement "remedies" began in the early 1970s in school desegregation cases when federal courts mandated additional spending in an effort to remedy the effects of "de jure" school segregation. This paper examines the positive effects of state court educational "adequacy" cases on increasing school funding, especially in school districts with high enrollments of poor and minority students. However, it also explores other ramifications of adequacy suits that raise questions as to whether such suits are the positive force in American education portrayed by their supporters, as well as much of the media. (Contains 59 footnotes.)