San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez and Its Aftermath

Essay — Volume 94, Issue 8

94 Va. L. Rev. 1963
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In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court observed that “education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments” and held that it was a public service that “must be made available to all on equal terms.” While Brown removed one obvious barrier to equal educational opportunities, it left in place another: the obstacle faced by poor school districts that wish to provide an education to their students “on equal terms” relative to the education offered by wealthier school districts within a State. 
Nineteen years after Brown, the Court decided another equal-protection case, San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, which gave the Court an opportunity to remove, or at least ameliorate, wealth-based barriers to equal educational opportunities as well. But the Court rejected the plaintiffs’ claims. This Essay explains what happened in Rodriguez, describes what happened in the States in the thirty-five years after Rodriguez and raises some questions prompted by the experience.

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  Volume 94 / Issue 8  

There’s No Free Laugh (Anymore): The Emergence of Intellectual Property Norms and the Transformation of Stand-Up Comedy

By Dotan Oliar and Christopher Sprigman
94 Va. L. Rev. 1787

The Uneasy Case for Transjurisdictional Adjudication

By Jonathan R. Nash
94 Va. L. Rev. 1869

Authority and Authorities

By Frederick Schauer
94 Va. L. Rev. 1931

San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez and Its Aftermath

By Jeffrey S. Sutton
94 Va. L. Rev. 1963