ERIC Number: ED248307
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1983-Sep
Reference Count: 0
State Civil Rights Laws. ECS Working Paper LEC-83-16.
This paper reviews State constitutions and State laws providing for race equity in education. Results of a comprehensive survey of constitutions and statutes reveal a substantial State commitment to the goal of education equity. Constitutional provisions in an overwhelming number of States mirror the requirements of the Federal equal protection clause. Even where the State constitutional provisions are markedly different in terminology, State courts have construed them to be equivalent to or to exceed the Federal standard. In addition, most States have expressly prohibited race discrimination or race segregation in education. Virtually every State has some kind of statute on race discrimination or segregation in schools. Some of these prohibit such inequity in "places of public accommodations," expressly or implicitly including schools in the definition. Others have provisions in the State education code. Some States adopted policies before the Federal government, and some have requirements that are stricter than those of the Federal government's. Some States, for example, make unintentional racial imbalance a condition that must be corrected. The overall picture for the States is one of great variety. (Author/GC)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC.; Carnegie Corp. of New York, NY.; Ford Foundation, New York, NY.
Authoring Institution: Education Commission of the States, Denver, CO. Law and Education Center.
Note: For other papers in this series, see UD 023 787-793.