DETROIT — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit focused on the poor reading skills of students at several Detroit schools — in part because he concluded there is no right to literacy.

Judge Stephen Murphy III agreed in his 40-page ruling that “when a child who could be taught to read goes untaught, the child suffers a lasting injury — and so does society.” But he added it still doesn’t follow that literacy is a right.

Murphy’s written ruling was posted late Friday in U.S. District Court for eastern Michigan.

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The lawsuit filed in 2016 argued the schools are in “slum-like conditions” and “functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy.”

It accused Gov. Rick Snyder, the state school board and others of violating the civil rights of low-income students.