エクィティからアディクアシーへ：教育機会の平等概念の再構築

──1980年代末以降のアメリカ学校財政制度訴訟を事例にして──

抄録

In American public elementary and secondary school finance a lawsuit is often filed a suit on account of financial and educational disparities among school districts. Plaintifs claim that those diparities deprive their school children of equal educational oportunities in violation of federal and/or states' constitutional equality clauses and/or education clauses. The school finance litigation (hereafter referred to “the litigation”) started in the early period of the 1970s and has continured since then. The first stage of the litigation from the beginning until the latter half of the 1980s is usually called “equity law” suits because the crucial issue of law was focused on the comparative equality of education expenses per student among school districts. On the other hand, the latter stage of the litigation since then is called “adequacy law “suits because the legal issue is focused on issues such as the adequacy of the curriculum, methods, facilities and equipments in schools.

The Kentucky Supreme Court's “Rose Decision” in 1989 was the beginning of the adequacy law suits thereafter. The Kentucky Supreme Court stated that the “thorough and efficient” Education clause of the State Constitution provided for adequate school education to be adequate throughout the state, and declared that the Kentucky public school finance was unconstitutional in violation of the Education clause. Since then, many state courts followed the Rose adequacy decision and declared their state public school finance unconstitutional under their state constitutions.

With these developments of the litigation, a new concept of equal educational opportunity has emerged. A new concept of equal educational opportunity based upon the adequacy legal theory requires the guarantee of substantive minimum quality of school education, the attainment of academic achievements, and the state financial responsibility.

Among other things, it is noteworthy that many state courts have referred to the attainment of academic achievements, especially the cultivation of civic capacity as an object of school education. In the American litigation studies there are two reasons pointed out for the courts's referrence to the cultivation of civic capacity . The first one is that these adequacy decisions have heard the litigation cases based on each state constitutional education clause and many education clauses have specified the development of the civic character to be an aim of school education. The second one is that the resurgence of republican thought over the last two decades in America has urged schools to bring up the civic character in students to serve the community.

There is strong opposition to the adequacy theory and its adoption in the court's judgement. Ambiguity of adequacy concept, or court's interference in pursuit of adequacy into legislative or administrative powers were examples of criticism.

Regardless of these oppositions, a suit will be filed against the American public school finance in pursuit of adequate education if the school finance is unconstitutionally invalid.