Education lawsuit against the state

Assuming I understand correctly, this lawsuit could lead to statewide (if not nationwide) education reform. Click here for the full article, or just look below for quotes I pulled.

The Chicago Urban League has filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Education calling for the state’s current school funding scheme to be declared unconstitutional and in violation of the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003. The lawsuit asserts that the State of Illinois has, for decades, discriminated against families based on race and has deprived African American, Latino and other minority children of a high quality education.

The lawsuit challenges the State’s method for raising and distributing education funds to local school districts and the Illinois State Board of Education’s implementation of the system.

The Chicago Urban League wants the court to agree that the public education financing mechanism in Illinois violates the Illinois Civil Rights Act and Illinois Constitution and order the State to take the necessary steps to eliminate the constitutional violation and remedy the statutory violation.

“Illinois ranks 49th in the nation for the funding gap between rich and poor students, and white and minority students,” said Mary Ellen Guest, campaign manager of A+ Illinois, the state’s leading advocate for improved school quality and funding. “It should come as no surprise that Illinois also ranks near-last for the achievement gap between these groups of students.”

Tags: Chicago Urban League, education, Illinois, lawsuit
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