[Ohiogift] Literacy is a Frill

[Will Fitzhugh]

[No wonder there is no push to have kids read complete nonfiction
books and write term papers. Literacy is a Frill. I didn’t know that!!—WF]


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Michigan AG claims school kids have no right to literacy: suit

November 25, 2016 by New York Post

The state of Michigan is fighting a lawsuit by seven Detroit schoolchildren who say their schools are horrible—by countering that “there is no fundamental right to literacy.”

Michigan’s attorney general made the bizarre argument in requesting that a federal judge toss the kids’ lawsuit, Fox News in Detroit reported Thursday.

The kids sued the state in September, saying that decades of indifference have left Detroit’s schools in deplorable condition.

Schools don’t have enough teachers or books, are plagued by vermin and extreme temperatures, and have unsafe conditions, the kids argued.

The state is obligated to teach kids to read and write, they assert in the lawsuit, which was filed by Public Counsel, a California-based law firm that helps the underprivileged.

But Michigan is asking that the judge dismiss the case outright because under its constitution, state officials are required only to “provide for a system of free public schools.”

What goes on in the schools isn’t their responsibility, they claim, and besides, “there is no fundamental right to literacy.”

The lawsuit counters that the state has been responsible for Detroit’s schools since 1999, when it took them over.



Source: Michigan AG claims school kids have no right to literacy: suit | New York Post






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