Framing Equal Opportunity: Law and the Politics of School Finance Reform (Stanford Law Books)

In the struggle to ensure that schools receive their fair share of financial and educational resources, reformers translate policy goals into legal claims in a number of different ways. This enlightening new work uncovers the options reformers have in framing legal challenges and how the choices they make affect politics and policy beyond the courtroom. Focusing on two of the most controversial and far-reaching court decisions in the nation in school finance and education reform, Framing Equal Opportunity follows lawyers and activists in New Jersey and Kentucky as they negotiate the complicated political terrain of educational change in their respective states. Unlike other books on law and reform, this work emphasizes the importance of legal translation—the process through which reformers transform their visions and goals into plausible legal claims. As it reveals, the kinds of arguments lawyers choose to make matter not only to their success in the courtroom, but also to the nature of the political fights they face in the community at large. Contents......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 Part I: Ideologies in Translation......Page 22 1. Legal Mobilization Theory and Legal Translation: Old Territory and New Frontiers......Page 24 2. School Finance Reform and Educational Ideology: A Guide to Law, Politics, and Policy......Page 46 Part II: Savage Inequalities in Law and Politics......Page 70 3. Egalitarianism Made Legal: From Robinson to Abbott......Page 72 4. The Fruits of Their Labors: The Compensatory Vision Ascendant......Page 104 5. From Legalism to Political Engagement: Backlash, Perseverance, and a Culture of Argument (Without End)......Page 136 6. The Common School in Law and Politics: The Democratic Road to Rose v. Council for Better Education......Page 176 Part III: The Common School and the Wuest for Consensus......Page 174 7. Rose v. Council for Better Education: Kentucky’s Brown v. Board......Page 202 Part IV: Conclusion......Page 228 Conclusion......Page 230 Acknowledgments......Page 248 Abbreviations......Page 252 Notes......Page 254 References......Page 294 Index......Page 326 Legal Mobilization Theory And Legal Translation : Old Territory And New Frontiers -- School Finance Reform And Educational Ideology : A Guide To Law, Politics, And Policy -- Egalitarianism Made Legal : From Robinson To Abbott -- The Fruits Of Their Labors : The Compensatory Vision Ascendant -- From Legalism To Political Engagement : Backlash, Perseverance, And A Culture Of Argument (without End) -- The Common School In Law And Politics : The Democratic Road To Rose V. Council For Better Education -- Rose V. Council For Better Education : Kentucky's Brown V. Board. Michael Paris. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book reveals the important role lawyers, law, and courts play in struggles over educational resources, especially when it comes to the translation of policy goals into legal claims.