This unit is designed to introduce students to the fight for equal educational opportunity through a fictional moot court case based on the
San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez
Supreme Court case. Two central issues of that case (namely, is public education a "fundamental interest" of the Constitution, and are the poor a class of people deserving of constitutional protection against discrimination?) will form the essential questions of the unit. More generally, this unit aims to familiarize students with the Constitution as a living document, and the courts as a time-honored arena for the pursuit of justice.
The battle for equal educational opportunity, like so many rights and freedoms in America, is situated in a long historical continuum, and is anything but guaranteed. This narrative argues that the struggle for equal educational opportunity today, and for justice more broadly, can be understood as a battleground which has shifted from a legally sanctioned assault on blacks and minorities to a legislative negligence towards the poor, which by default, includes many blacks and minorities. This can be conceived of as a similar tactic to the old Southern trick of requiring literacy tests for blacks trying to vote. On the surface, it might seems that we have progressed legally beyond a black and white racial divide, but in fact the methods of racial discrimination for those in power have simply become more refined.
A Moot Court is the primary teaching strategy for the unit, whereby students will take the roles of Petitioner and Respondent teams of lawyers arguing before a Supreme Court panel of student justices. In order for the students to successfully argue their case, they will need a well-researched familiarity with legal precedent and the context of educational opportunity in America.