Is Access to Literacy a Right?
On September 13, 2016, a complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Michigan against officials of the State of Michigan (State), including the Governor and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The complaint was filed on behalf of students enrolled in an elementary, an elementary/secondary, and three secondary schools within the Detroit Public Schools (DPS). The plaintiffs asserted that the State violated the students’ right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution (42 U.S.C. § 1983). The plaintiffs held that, under the Constitution, the students had a fundamental right to a basic minimum education encompassing access to literacy. The plaintiffs alleged that the State denied the students a basic minimum education by denying them access to literacy. They maintained that the students did not receive access to literacy comparable to that of other public school students in the State. The plaintiffs’ argument was that the State had supervisory authority over the Michigan public school system, and that every other school (or almost every other school) in the system was given resources needed to provide access to literacy, but the named students’ schools were not.
The schools in which the students were enrolled served predominantly low-income minority students. The schools fell within the most poorly performing five percent of schools in the State. The plaintiffs characterized the schools as functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy. The plaintiffs recounted poor conditions within the students’ classrooms, including unqualified teachers, insufficient books and materials, and physical danger.
According to the plaintiffs, in June 2016, Michigan adopted legislation that allowed non-certificated, non-endorsed teachers to work in the DPS. The plaintiffs asserted that nowhere else in the State were public school students taught by teachers who lacked appropriate State-mandated credentials and qualifications. The plaintiffs observed that the five schools at issue lacked teaching staff qualified to bring students to literacy. They noted that the students’ classes were covered by non-certificated paraprofessionals, substitutes, or misassigned teachers who lacked expertise or knowledge in developing literacy. The plaintiffs continued that the schools failed to use adequate curricula that could impart literacy. They explained that teachers received no support or training in literacy education and lacked access to curricular materials, such as lesson plans, pacing guides and teachers’ editions of textbooks.
With respect to the physical condition of the schools, the plaintiffs stated that the students’ classrooms were decrepit and unsafe, unable to satisfy minimal State health and safety standards. The City of Detroit admitted that, during the 2015-16 academic year, no DPS school building was in compliance with city health and safety codes. The plaintiffs documented that classroom temperatures in the five schools reached 110 degrees in the summer and remained below freezing during the winter. Moreover, mice, cockroaches, and other vermin regularly inhabited the students’ classrooms. The drinking water at some of the students’ schools was contaminated.
The plaintiffs concluded that the unfavorable conditions described above denied the students an opportunity to gain literacy. Ninety percent of the students in the subject schools were unable to meet State proficiency standards in literacy. Low single-digit percentages of students were rated as proficient or above in English, compared to a State average in the mid-to-high forties. The plaintiffs noted that students in the schools struggled to write proper paragraphs or even complete sentences. At the elementary schools, the Plaintiffs charged that many third-grade students had a vocabulary of only a couple hundred words, were still learning handwriting, and could not sound out letters. Consequently, the plaintiffs sought affirmative injunctive relief to improve the conditions in the students’ schools.
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan confirmed that the identified students had a fundamental right to a basic minimum education. Gary B. v. Gretchen Whitmer, No. 18-1855 (6th Cir. 2020). The Court emphasized that education is essential to every interaction between a citizen and government. The Court specified that such a basic minimum education would provide the students with access to a foundational level of literacy. The Court acknowledged that the students had been harmed by being relegated to a school system that did not provide even a plausible chance to attain literacy. The Court declared that the injured students were entitled to remedial action. Consequently, the Court remanded the complaint for further proceedings. The case eventually settled. The State of Michigan agreed to provide $280,000 to the seven students, $2.7 million to DPS for literacy programs, and $94.4 million for efforts to improve literacy in the DPS over a longer period.
Madonna T. Lechner is a Former Investigator and Team Leader with the U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, in Chicago, IL.