Equity & Diversity

K-12 and the U.S. Supreme Court: Highlights of the 2017-18 Term

By Mark Walsh — June 29, 2018 4 min read
The U.S. Supreme Court meets for the last day of opinions on June 27.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

After a major term for K-12 education the year before, the U.S. Supreme Court—with one blockbuster exception and a major retirement—had a more measured term in 2017-18.

The standout case for educators was Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31, which stripped teacher and other public employee unions of the right to collect agency fees from nonmembers, overturning a decades-old high court precedent. The aftershocks are expected to continue.

That ruling was issued the last day of the term, June 27, the same day that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, a highly influential moderate-conservative at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court for three decades, announced his retirement. In his time on the court, Kennedy wrote major opinions on race, religion, and other areas of public education.

Here’s a summary of opinions on issues of interest to K-12 educators this term, including union rights, a variety of First Amendment issues, and cases with implications for school funding and immigration.

Teachers’ Unions

Plaintiff Mark Janus, center, sits with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, left, and Liberty Justice Center founder and chairman John Tillman inside the U.S. Supreme Court as the decision in Janus v. AFSCME is delivered. The Illinois-based Liberty Justice Center has been representing Janus in his years-long challenge to union fees.

Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31: In a long-anticipated decision, the court ruled 5-4 to overrule a 41-year-old precedent that allowed the teachers’ unions and other public-employee labor organizations to collect fees for collective bargaining from workers who decline to join the union. The justices also ruled that workers must affirmatively opt into the union before fees can be taken out of their paychecks.

State Taxation

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, left, reads the court’s 5-4 majority decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. Kennedy, who announced his retirement on the last day of the term, is joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., center, and Justice Clarence Thomas.

South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc.: In a decision that is likely to boost the coffers of states as well as school districts, the court allowed states to require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes on Internet purchases. The justices overruled two precedents, from 1967 and 1992, that had required sellers to have a physical presence in the state before facing tax collection. States, cities, and school districts were missing out on as much as $34 billion per year.

First Amendment

Plaintiff Fane Lozman watches arguments before the court in Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Fla. Lozman, center, is a resident of the City of Riviera Beach, and a vocal critic of the city’s plan to utilize eminent domain to redevelop the Riviera Beach Marina.

Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Fla.: Educators were watching the case of a persistent gadfly speaker at city council meetings who was arrested when the presiding council member sought to cut him off during a public comment period and Lozman refused to leave. The high court reinstated the man’s civil lawsuit on narrow grounds, and did not decide whether the existence of probable cause on the part of the police in such situations automatically bars a civil suit for First Amendment retaliation. But the court did stress that the right to petition the government ranks “high in the hierarchy of First Amendment values.”

Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission: In a case that was watched by many in education, including teachers’ unions and religious colleges, the court ruled that the civil rights panel had violated the religious rights of a baker who had refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The decision, however, sidestepped the larger questions about conflicts between religious rights and government protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky: The justices struck down Minnesota’s ban on political apparel at polling places in a First Amendment case with implications for free speech restrictions in public schools. The court suggested that states could restrict expressive apparel at polling places, which are less “mundane” forums than schools. But Minnesota’s restrictions on issue-oriented messages were not reasonable, the court said.

Immigration

Trump v. Hawaii: Teachers’ unions, colleges and universities, and many higher education groups had weighed in on this case, in which the court ruled 5-4 to uphold President Donald Trump’s restrictions on travel to the United States from five predominantly Muslim countries. The advocacy groups had joined briefs arguing that the policy represents discrimination based on religion and hampers international study. But the court held that the entry ban was a valid exercise of the president’s broad authority to regulate immigration and that the government set forth a sufficient national security justification to survive the claim that the president’s anti-Muslim statements led the policy to violate the First Amendment’s prohibition against government establishment of religion.

Sports Gambling

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., second from left, reads the court’s 6-3 majority vote in Murphy v. National Collegiate College Athletic Association.

Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association: The court struck down a federal law aimed at stopping the spread of sports betting, in a case that was watched in higher education and among advocates who fear the effects of gambling on the nation’s youth. The court said the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which barred the states from authorizing sports wagering, violates a principle outlined by the high court against “commandeering,” or directing the states to pass a particular law.

A version of this article appeared in the July 18, 2018 edition of Education Week as U.S. Supreme Court and Schools: 2017-18

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Should College Essays Touch on Race? Some Feel the Affirmative Action Ruling Leaves Them No Choice
After the end of affirmative action, the college essay is one of the few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions.
8 min read
Hillary Amofa listens to others member of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school on March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. She described hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it all. "I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping," said the 18 year-old senior, "And I'm just like, this doesn't really say anything about me as a person."
Hillary Amofa listens to others member of the Lincoln Park High School step team after school on March 8, 2024, in Chicago. When she started writing her college essay, Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. She wrote about being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, about growing up in a small apartment in Chicago, and then deleted it all to avoid sounding like she was "trauma-dumping."
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
Equity & Diversity Teacher, Students Sue Arkansas Over Ban on Critical Race Theory
A high school teacher and two students asked a federal judge to strike down the restrictions as unconstitutional.
2 min read
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs an education overhaul bill into law, March 8, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. On Monday, March 25, 2024, a high school teacher and two students sued Arkansas over the state's ban on critical race theory and “indoctrination” in public schools, asking a federal judge to strike down the restrictions as unconstitutional.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs an education overhaul bill into law, March 8, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark.
Andrew DeMillo/AP
Equity & Diversity Opinion What March Madness Can Teach Schools About Equity
What if we modeled equity in action in K-12 classrooms after the resources provided to college student-athletes? asks Bettina L. Love.
3 min read
A young student is celebrated like a pro athlete for earning an A+!
Chris Kindred for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Girls Are Falling in Love With Wrestling, the Nation's Fastest-Growing High School Sport
A surging number of states have sanctioned the sport, with bolstering from various groups.
6 min read
Benton's Callie Hess, left, battles Plum's Saphia Davis, right, during the first found of the PIAA High School Wrestling Championships in Hershey, Pa., on March 7, 2024. Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
Callie Hess, left, battles Saphia Davis, right, during the first round of the PIAA High School Wrestling Championships in Hershey, Pa., on March 7, 2024. Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
Matt Rourke/AP