The Enduring Legacy of Rodriguez

In this ambitious volume, leading legal and educational scholars examine San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973), the landmark US Supreme Court decision that held that the Constitution does not guarantee equality of educational opportunity. Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., and Kimberly Jenkins Robinson have brought together a host of experts in their field to examine the road that led up to the Rodriguez decision, assess the successes and failures of the reforms that followed in its wake, and lay out an array of creative strategies for addressing the ongoing inequality of resources and socioeconomic segregation that perpetuate the inequity of opportunity in education.

Successive waves of school reform eff orts have failed to counteract the pernicious effects of inequality on student learning and achievement. The widely perceived exhaustion of these conventional approaches has led to a renewed interest in the Rodriguez decision and its impact on efforts to improve educational opportunity and outcomes for all students. A timely volume, The Enduring Legacy of Rodriguez makes a comprehensive statement that will inform research and reform for the next generation of scholars, educators, lawyers, and policy makers.

Charles J. Ogletree Jr, is the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, USA.

Kimberly Jenkins Robinson is a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and a researcher at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, USA.