The Supreme Court is facing another reckoning with education. After recently expanding prayer in public schools, the Supreme Court is primed to strike down affirmative action, potentially banning race as a consideration at Universities such as Harvard.
After going through a progressive phase when the Warren Court struck down school desegregation, they have been on a downward spiral since then. Some scholars point to San Antonio v. Rodriguez, where the Burger court ruled that there is no federal constitutional right to equal funding of public schools, as the start.
However, some State Supreme Courts, such as in Pennsylvania and North Carolina (kinda), are requiring legislatures to increase education funding on an equity basis. Underfunded urban school districts may finally receive state resources that have long been available to wealthy suburbs.
Education is a bitter topic in American politics at the moment, but for now, the courts don’t seem afraid to wade in.