Overview
A New York Times Book ReviewĀ Editorsā Choice
An award-winning constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago (who clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Sandra Day OāConnor) gives us an engaging and alarming book that aims to vindicate the rights of public school stuĀdents, which have so often been undermined by the Supreme Court in recent decades.
Ā
Judicial decisions assessing the constitutional rights of students in the nationās public schools have consistently generated bitter controversy. From racial segregation to unĀauthorized immigration, from antiwar protests to compulĀsory flag salutes, from economic inequality to teacher-led prayerāthese are but a few of the cultural anxieties dividing American society that the Supreme Court has addressed in elementary and secondary schools. The Schoolhouse Gate gives a fresh, lucid, and provocative account of the historic legal battles waged over education and illuminates contemporary disputes that continue to fracture the nation.
Ā
Justin Driver maintains that since the 1970s the Supreme Court has regularly abdicated its responsibility for protecting studentsā constitutional rights and risked transĀforming public schools into Constitution-free zones. Students deriving lessons about citizenship from the Courtās decisions in recent decades would conclude that the following actions taken by educators pass constitutional muster: inflicting severe corporal punishment on students without any proceĀdural protections, searching students and their possessions without probable cause in bids to uncover violations of school rules, random drug testing of students who are not suspected of wrongdoing, and suppressing student speech for the viewĀpoint it espouses. Taking their cue from such decisions, lower courts have upheld a wide array of dubious school actions, including degrading strip searches, repressive dress codes, draconian āzero toleranceā disciplinary policies, and severe restrictions on off-campus speech.
Ā
Driver surveys this legal landscape with eloquence, highlights the gripping personal narratives behind landmark clashes, and warns that the repeated failure to honor studentsā rights threatens our basic constitutional order. This magisteĀrial book will make it impossible to view American schoolsāor America itselfāin the same way again. Ā
This book title, The Schoolhouse Gate (Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind) - 9780525566960, ISBN: 9780525566960, by Justin Driver, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (August 6, 2019) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer The Schoolhouse Gate (Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind) - 9780525566960 books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order The Schoolhouse Gate (Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind) - 9780525566960 books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!