How State Courts Are Quietly Shaping U.S. Education

State supreme courts are quietly shaping U.S. education law, often overlooked in favor of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, according to legal analyst Derek Black. Black, the Ernest F. Hollings Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of South Carolina, explained that for the past 50 years, state supreme courts have interpreted state constitutional guarantees regarding education, leading to significant rulings on school funding, quality, governance, and choice. These rulings, which occur one to five times annually, have substantial policy implications. For instance, last summer, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the state's baseline school funding was constitutionally insufficient. Similarly, the North Carolina Supreme Court overturned a lower court's public school funding decision earlier this year, a ruling that could influence similar disputes in other states. These state-level judicial actions are critical for understanding the landscape of education law and policy across the United States, impacting issues from school choice to the adequacy of educational resources.