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Constitutional Right Of Education Essay

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Education as defined by Merriam-Webster is a field of study that deals with the methods and problems of teaching and the action or process of teaching someone the knowledge, skill, and understanding especially in a school, college, or university (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Does gaining that knowledge, skill, and understanding translate into a U.S. Constitutional right of education? Nowhere in the Constitution does it state that education is a right (Constitution of the United States, 2015). However, every country that outperforms the U.S. has a constitutional or statutory commitment to this right. The U.S. scores below average in math and ranks 17th in the world, while it ranks 21st in science and 17th in reading (The Atlantic, 2013). Do Americans deserve an education with the guarantee of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness?
The American Constitution does not specifically guarantee the right to an education. However, the 14th Amendment prohibits any state from denying "to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The equal protection clause clearly requires that all American citizens must be treated equally by the law (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2015). While the 14th Amendment protects and allows for each student to be treated equally, it does not address the poverty stricken areas. One area in which inequality is evident in the United States is in how schools are funded. For example, a 2011 U.S. …show more content…

The answer is simple - the individual people must speak up. The government works for the people, not the people work for the government. Local communities must address the local school boards and local elected officials and demand change. Federal government can allocate millions to a problem, but if the people do not implement change the feds are wasting the funding presented to the state and

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