Dignity Denied / Opportunity Lost

At the end of April the New York Times ran the following:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled last week that the state of Michigan had been so negligent toward the educational needs of Detroit students that children had been 'deprived of access to literacy' — the foundational skill that allows Americans to function as citizens — in violation of the 14th Amendment. The ruling came in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by a group of Detroit public school students that cited a litany of severe deficiencies: Rodent-infested schools. Unqualified and absentee teachers. Physics classes given only biology textbooks. "Advanced" high school reading groups working at the fourth-grade level. When "a group of children is relegated to a school system that does not provide even a plausible chance to attain literacy, we hold that the Constitution provides them with a remedy," Judge Eric L. Clay wrote for a 2-1 majority.

Some individuals might argue it was Detroit's fault. (Some senators currently are making the same argument about financially helping local governments during the COVID-19 crisis.) doing about an aid package for local governments.) Let's assume the adults screwed up. It has happened before. It will happen again. Should the children pay the penalty for the adults' fiscal errors? Those individuals may argue that happens when a family goes bankrupt. The children suffer for the errors of their parents. Yes, they do. Yet, and this is important, state and local services, such as schools, enable them to recover—if not immediately, then in the future.

More important, illiterate children become illiterate adults. In the 21^st century, can individuals with only minimum skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic contribute economically for their and our societies success? No. Is there a higher probability that the illiterate will become an economic burden for society as a whole? Yes. Remember some 32 million American citizens are functionally illiterate. Is there a higher probability that they will end of up jail? Yes. Sixty percent of incarcerated adults are illiterate. It's 85 percent for juvenile offenders. In the federal penal system, it costs more than $37,000 a year to keep someone in jail. The federal government could pay their way through college at that rate.

The formula is simple: The better educated, the more successful.

So why are a bunch of students forced to take a state to court to get what they deserve, to get what is best for the state of Michigan, to get what will improve our society?