UCLA Law Review article – “Effective Discipline: Bringing Classroom Strategies to a State Constitutional Crisis”

Who says teachers don’t work during the summer? Angela Panel Scioli, Justin Parmenter and I collaborated this summer on a UCLA Law Review article which tells the story of why we see #redfored in N.C.

We hope this article may serve as one-stop shopping for those who wish to get up to speed with how we got to the point of marching in N.C. and what can be done to help recommit our state to supporting our public schools.

“In many ways, it seems North Carolina’s state government has made no progress toward remediating the concerns brought by the Leandro family and others over twenty years ago. North Carolina’s state motto is “Esse Quam Videri: To be rather than to seem.” In regards to making substantive progress in upholding the Leandro ruling, the state has pursued policies that are much more about seeming compliant than actually being compliant. No matter where they live, students deserve policies and politicians that provide them with a “sound basic education.” Courts must hold these representatives accountable when they injure students and the common good by maintaining the appearance of supporting public education while actively undermining it. Given how little recourse teachers and education advocates have in effectively impacting policy through voting, exercising First Amendment rights, and bureaucratic consultation, the courts have the greatest potential to keep teachers out of the streets and in their classrooms where they would much rather be.”