Minnesota is failing to meet its declared obligation to many students.
Counterpoint
Last month, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that -- despite a multibillion state budget shortfall -- it was unconstitutional for the legislature to cut funding for disadvantaged schools. The court ordered the state to increase spending for those schools by $500 million next year.
Legislators in Minnesota should listen and not just hear. The New Jersey decision is based in part on a provision in that state's constitution that is very similar -- in fact, uses some identical language -- to the Minnesota constitution.
Under the Minnesota constitution, our Legislature has an affirmative duty to insure an adequate education for our children.
The education clause (Article 13, Section 1) states: "The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state."
In 1993, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that this constitutional provision elevated education to a "fundamental right," a phrase with significant constitutional implications.
The court said that the education clause of the constitution is "not simply a grant of power" but, in fact, "a mandate" on the Legislature. And the court noted that the education clause "is the only place in the constitution where the phrase 'it is the duty of the legislature' is used."
In that 1993 ruling, Skeen vs. State, the court ended up dismissing a challenge to educational financing in Minnesota. But the court repeatedly stated in its decision that, as even the plaintiffs in the case conceded, all Minnesota children were receiving an adequate level of basic education at that time.
As well it should be. The principle underlying the constitutional mandate is that it is essential to a functioning democracy that citizens are capable of making informed decisions.
That most assuredly is necessary in today's complex and global society. Yet today, while our public schools serve many students well, there are many students in our state who are not receiving an adequate education, by any objective standard.
In fact, Minnesota has one of the widest achievement gaps of any state in the country between students who are poor and who are wealthy and between students who are white and who are of color.
A few statistics make the point. Our achievement gap for eighth-grade math ranks us 49th out of 50 states. Eighty-eight percent of our African-American fourth-graders read below grade level, scoring worse than African-American students in Alabama.
Only 44 percent of African-American students, 45 percent of Latino students, and 41 percent of Native American students graduate from high school in Minnesota.
The Legislature has a duty -- a mandate -- to act. It cannot shirk its duty, as the New Jersey legislature attempted to do, based on our current budget shortfall.
While funding is certainly key, it is not the only component necessary to achieve educational adequacy. Minnesota ranks far below many other states -- with Ds and Fs -- in educational reform policies.
As we face a special session of the Legislature, it is interesting to look back several decades, to the 1971 session. That session ended in a stalemate on education funding issues.
After the session, federal Judge Miles W. Lord ruled that the state's school finance system violated the equal protection guarantee of the U.S. constitution. Lord ended his opinion by stating that the court would defer further action until after the Legislature acted.
Within weeks, in a special session, the Legislature enacted landmark legislation known as the "Minnesota Miracle." Their objectives achieved, the plaintiffs dismissed the lawsuit before Judge Lord.
Now, times and circumstances have changed. Minnesota is no longer a "miracle" state. For all too many poor and children of color, our state is -- shockingly -- an educational embarrassment.
It is time for our Legislature to fulfill its duty to provide a basic, adequate education for not just some -- but all -- of Minnesota's children.
Our Constitution demands no less.
Michael V. Ciresi and Roberta B. Walburn are Minneapolis attorneys and members of the board of the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Foundation for Children.
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