DETROIT, MI - Detroit students have a fundamental right to a basic minimum education and can sue the state for allegedly violating that right, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, April 23.

The panel of three judges also dismissed parts of the complaint filed by the guardians of seven Detroit Public Schools students in 2016, stating they had not properly argued their claims of equal protection, due process and theory of compulsory attendance.

The panel sided with the students in the 2-1 decision, however, because they properly argued their central theory that they were denied a basic minimum education, and as a result, were deprived access to literacy.

“A review of the Supreme Court’s education cases, and an application of their principles to our substantive due process framework, demonstrates that we should recognize a basic minimum education to be a fundamental right,” the panel’s ruling states.

The court’s decision is a reversal of a prior opinion issued by a federal judge in June 2018 that found literacy was not a fundamental right. The students filed an appeal the next month.

The suit initially named Gov. Rick Snyder, members of the state board of education, the state superintendent of public instruction and other state officials as the defendants, later adding current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The lawsuit alleges the conditions of Detroit Public Schools are so poor that children are not receiving a minimally adequate education and are being denied access to literacy on account of their race, which violates their 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection.

“This is a thrilling historic victory for the community of Detroit that has carried on the struggle for educational justice for decades. It affirms in these troubled times why our judicial system exists,” said attorney Mark Rosenbaum, who represents the student plaintiffs through pro bono law firm Public Counsel. “Every Michigander who loves children should cheer this decision.”

Although certain members of the state board of education challenged the lower court’s decision that students did not have a right to read, Whitmer did not challenge that ruling on the merits, said Tiffany Brown, the governor’s spokeswoman, said.

Brown previously noted the governor’s office signed on to the first part of the lawsuit only, which argues that the state of Michigan is no longer a party to the lawsuit due to changed circumstances and the fact that local control has been restored.

“We’ve also regularly reinforced that the governor has a strong record on education and has always believed we have a responsibility to teach every child to read,” Brown said.

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