My Classroom: Regulated By The Constitution

Although the balance of power between the national government and the states has changed over the years, the federalist system is a fundamental part of the U.S. government (The White House, 2013). The states sponsor important programs to fund education, help troubled cities and provide social services. At the local level, the municipalities control a number of other services and regulations, but never fail to be in collaboration between the national, state and local governments. The constitution was put into place to support and defend the basic right of civilians of the United States (Marchant, 2003). Although the Constitution does not refer to education, operation and management of schools is made, particularly with respect to amendments to protect individual rights of students, faculty and staff. With these set laws into place to hold our country

What is the age that a person should be able to claim rights under the first amendment? The first thing would come to most people's mind is eighteen. However, upon examination, someone could easily justify that a sixteen year old who is in his or her second year of college would have the ability to form an opinion and should be allowed to express it. What makes this student different from another student who, at sixteen, drops out of school and gets a job, or a student who decides to wear a shirt that says "PRO-CHOICE" on it? While these students differ in many aspects such as education level, their opinion can equally be silenced under the first amendment. One of the most blatant abuses of the first amendment right to free speech is

Education is the key to our future and that is why it is such an important subject in the United States. Education relates to federalism by interacting with the national government, state governments, and local governments. Each level of government is responsible for improving education within their limits of power.

I went into Government class thinking I knew a lot about government. I quickly figured out there was a lot I had to learn. I am very glad I was required to take this class because without taking it, how would I know how everything works or know how I am affected by the government? My beliefs didn’t change nor did the political party I identify myself with but I have a much better understanding about what goes on in our Country. I learned much more than I thought I would learn, from the ways someone can become president, to how a bill becomes a law, to who were considered to be the best presidents.

The Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution declares that the states have the authority in handling educational standards (Boslaugh, 2015). Each state can come up with their own requirements and rules for their educational systems. For many years, this system seemed to work and showed good results. The United States had one of the best educational systems throughout the world.

In the first amendment, it is stated that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”. From this, it made clear that the founding fathers’ original intent was for the Government to take a neutral position with respect to religion; the Government was not to favor any one religion over another. “Almighty God we acknowledge our independence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parent, our teachers and our Country. Amen.” In 1951, that prayer was conducted in class every morning in all New York public schools as ordered by New York State Board of Regents; it was called a “nondenominational prayer”. The short prayer was created with the intent of developing students’ moral

Indirectly, or directly, one can argue, public schools are controlled by the federal and state governments. Several issues have emerged, because of the conflict between federal and state requirements for education. “Under the Tenth Amendment, any authority not given specifically to the federal government is reserved to the states. Thus, the federal government has no authority to regulate education directly; that belongs to the states” (Underwood, n. d., p. 2). To get around this, the federal government controls the schools through funds for complying with certain initiatives, procedures, and policies (Underwood, n. d.). Ironically, both the state and federal levels of government hold the district liable for implementing different agendas and legal obligations. The federal government, however, can ensure that no citizen is denied their rights or privileges, even in a private institution, because of the Bill of Rights and other amendments. Failure to comply by these amendments or statutes can lead to the loss of federal funding and legal reproductions for schools.

Newspaper reporting is all about finding stories that will appeal to readers. Journalists try to uncover the real situations and problems that affect those readers and write the truth. What if writers were forbidden to write these articles? It may sound like something that could never happen in America, where citizens’ freedom of speech is protected, but the reality is that it is happening. In schools around the country, student newspapers are being censored and their stories yanked out or manipulated to reflect biased opinions. Uncensored journalism in school is necessary because it teaches the First Amendment, it allows kids to fight the wrongs in their world, and it keeps school faculty from having to fight for students’ articles.

As documented in the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” written by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta lived her childhood in the segregated rural south. There was no real inspiration for her to attend school, much less develop a strong interest in getting a formal education. Segregation contributed to a cycle of oppression and poverty that affected Henrietta’s knowledge, and quality of life. The unfair early education laws, impaired all black children’s potential to learn, and negatively affected their confidence. America has laws that intend on producing, equal education for all children regardless of economic circumstances, race, religion, or academic ability level. On the other hand, a studied by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, find that “public school, especially in the south, is becoming re-segregated at a surprising level.”(Hancock Jones) Today there is evidence that suggest public education still needs equal protection reform in order to give all children a high quality education.

A more recent case which is similar to Everson v. Board of Education, is Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn. The taxpayers of Arizona were challenging the fact that a state law was providing tax credits to those who were donating to school tuition organizations in order for the schools to provide scholarships to those attending private/religious schools. The claim was that this was a violation of the Establishment Clause (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, 2016.), which is the first of several pronouncements within the First Amendment within the U.S. Constitution, or the first ten amendments within the Bill of Rights, which states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” (Bill of Rights, 2016.). The Supreme Court had ruled 5-4 and argued that the plaintiff did not have enough information and standing to bring to the suit. Justice Kagen, in her dissent, stated that “cash grants and targeted tax breaks are means of accomplishing the same government object; to provide financial support to select individuals or organizations.” (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, 2016.). Although the ruling was made on “narrow grounds”, according to Peter Wooley, a political science and direction of the PublicMind Poll, the plaintiff in one “guise or another will be back another day” (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, 2016.).

In 1954 the Supreme Court announced that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional in the court case Brown v. Board of Education. Little Rock Nine occurred after the court decided to desegregate schools, it was a civil rights event where nine African American students integrated Little Rock high school in Arkansas in September of 1957. As the nine students went to school in September a mob of the white students who opposed desegregation swarmed the entrance to the Arkansas high school. The nine student sought protection from National Guardsmen, in fear that the mob would get to out of control. Little Rock Nine was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement because it encouraged the integration of schools.

I further believe that in order to teach children, school districts need a certain amount of authority and structure to keep students safe and effectively teach them. School districts need to provide a positive learning environments that includes free speech for both students and teachers for optimum learning. However, I have concerns that school regulations could have far reaching affects not originally intended and when school's regulations are not applied equitably. I agree with the Supreme Court's descending decision in this case and the District Court's decision that the action of the school authorities was reasonable.

The Texas legislature passed a law allowing school districts to deny enrollment to children without out legal paperwork proving U.S. citizenship. In addition to denying these undocumented students access to free public schools, school districts in Texas were permitted to charge students tuition for enrollment. Some districts were cited for charging nearly $1,000 for enrollment. The attorneys on behalf of “certain school-age children of Mexican origin in Smith County, who could not establish they had been legally admitted into the United States’ filed a class action suit in 1977” (Plyler v. Doe, 1982).

Today we learned about the legal rights of student bloggers. Public School Students have the First Amendment rights, and according to the Supreme Court, public school students don't "shed their constitutional right to freedom of speech or expression at the school gate." People who go to private school also have the First Amendment rights, but those rights only protect them from the government censorship, not private censorship. Which means your freedom of speech is only protected from the government and it is not protected from the private school you attend. Remember a public school can censor or punish students' on-campus speech. Although the Tinker decision recognized that students have free speech rights on campus, the court also held that

As a teacher in a democratic society, one of my roles is to teach my students how to actively participate is said society. Some key elements found is a democracy are basic human rights, separation of powers, participation, and respect of other points of views. As I wish to ready my students to become an active part in this democracy, I must create a democratic classroom for the students to join. This involves giving up some control to the students, discussing controversial topics, and expressing the need and want for basic human rights. One way I practice these traits in my classroom is by encouraging students to express their first amendment right in my classroom.