Center for Educational Equity Records

The Center for Educational Equity Records house organizational records generated by or accrued by Michael A. Rebell and his associates, as well as the Center for Educational Equity, during the litigation of several lawsuits which advocated for educational equity in the United States. These records include documents related to the landmark case Jose P. v. Mills, as well as documents created and gathered by Rebell and his associates throughout the National Advocacy Center for Children’s Educational Success with Standards (ACCESS) Campaign, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, No Child Left Behind, the Campaign for Educational Equity, and other legal initiatives.  

Ranging from 1974 to 2017, this collection consists of court documents such as complaints, stipulations, legal briefs, case filings, judgements and rulings, expert reports, trial documents, orders of the court, and court dockets; notes and background research including handwritten outlines, case studies, cost studies, copies of academic articles, newspaper articles, and other research materials; handwritten and typed correspondence; promotional materials such as VHS tapes and DVDs, pamphlets, and posters; memoranda, executive reports, project planning documents, and print-outs of articles discussing the outcome of lawsuits and campaigns. 

The records in this collection document the efforts of Michael Rebell, the Center for Educational Equity, and associated advocacy campaigns to promote education-finance reform and fight for the constitutional right to basic education. This collection evidences the ways such litigation attempted to force Departments of Education to uphold and enforce Federal laws concerning educational equality. Spanning around 40 years of legal advocacy for educational equity in the United States, this collection provides a wide array of documentation concerning educational law and legislation, educational accountability, and school finance reforms from the 1970s to the late 2010s.
 

This collection is unique in that it evidences the ways litigators and not-for-profit advocacy organizations fought for both local and national educational reform through targeted lawsuits and advocacy campaigns, especially in the areas of school finance, educational standards, special education, bilingual education, and school diversity. This collection also calls attention to the failures and gaps in educational laws and subsequent programs and their implementation at both the state and federal levels. 

While this collection only covers the advocacy efforts carried out by Michael Rebell, the Center for Educational Equity, and associated litigators, these records underscore the changing landscape of educational standards and laws, as well as the fraught nature of the American educational landscape for children and their families. 

This collection also demonstrates how Teachers College and its policy and research centers became involved in educational reform on a national basis. 

Researchers interested in school finance reform, educational standards reform,  special education and bilingual education reform, or legal strategies and campaigns used to progress educational reform in the United States will find this collection a valuable resource. 

The Teachers College Digital Collections house several items related the Center for Educational Equity Records. Of note is the New York State School Finance Reform Archive, which includes the Campaign for Fiscal Equity vs The State of New York Trial Collection.

Additional related resources include the David Long Papers, SchoolFunding.Info, and resources from the Center for Educational Equity's website.