printable versionThinking Twice: Education
In this month's column, education Professor Eamonn Callan discusses the controversial issue of public funding for special education, and philosophy Professor Debra Satz explores the link between equal opportunities in education and equal citizenship.
Funding special education
By Eamonn Callan
Public funding for special education in America has long been controversial. Many different questions are entangled in that controversy. My question is a particularly thorny one. Is it just for society to invest substantial resources in the education of those who can learn very little? The question has more than academic meaning for me.
Equality and educational policy
By Debra Satz
American schools are funded by a complex formula of national, state and local dollars and there are significant differences in the funding of the K-12 schools that students attend. If some schools are so ill-equipped that children lack textbooks, trained teachers and basic supplies, how can we say that these children have equal opportunities with their wealthier peers? How should K-12 education resources be distributed in a democracy?