Another global concern in education is universal access. This term refers to people’s equal ability to participate in an education system. On a world level, access might be more difficult for certain groups based on class or gender (as was the case in the United States earlier in the nation’s history, a dynamic we still struggle to overcome). The modern idea of universal access arose in the United States as a concern for people with disabilities. In the United States, one way in which universal education is supported is through federal and state governments covering the cost of free public education. Of course, the way this plays out in terms of school budgets and taxes makes this an often-contested topic on the national, state, and community levels. Rank State Education Spending Per Student 1 New York $24,040 2 District of Columbia $22,759 3 Connecticut $20,635 4 New Jersey $20,021 5 Vermont $19,340 6 Alaska $17,726 7 Massachusetts $17,058 8 New Hampshire $16,893 9 Pennsylvania $16,395 10 Wyoming $16,224 11 Rhode Island $16,121 12 Illinois $15,741 13 Delaware $15,639 14 Hawaii $15,242 15 Maryland $14,762 16 Maine $14,145 17 North Dakota $13,758 18 Ohio $13,027 19 Washington $12,995 20 Minnesota $12,975 21 California $12,498 22 Nebraska $12,491 23 Michigan $12,345 24 Wisconsin $12,285 25 Virginia $12,216 26 Oregon $11,920 27 Iowa $11,732 28 Montana $11,680 29 Kansas $11,653 30 Louisiana $11,452 31 West Virginia $11,334 32 Kentucky $11,110 33 South Carolina $10,856 34 Missouri $10,810 34 Georgia $10,810 36 Indiana $10,262 37 Colorado $10,202 38 Arkansas $10,139 39 South Dakota $10,073 40 Alabama $9,696 41 Texas $9,606 42 New Mexico $9,582 43 Tennessee $9,544 44 Nevada $9,417 45 North Carolina $9,377 46 Florida $9,346 47 Mississippi $8,935 48 Oklahoma $8,239 49 Arizona $8,239 50 Idaho $7,771 51 Utah $7,628 Table 16.1 - How does state spending affect educational opportunities? (EducationData.org 2018) A precedent for universal access to education in the United States was set with the 1972 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision in Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia. This case was brought on the behalf of seven school-age children with special needs who argued that the school board was denying their access to free public education. The school board maintained that the children’s “exceptional” needs, which included intellectual disabilities, precluded their right to be educated for free in a public school setting. The board argued that the cost of educating these children would be too expensive and that the children would therefore have to remain at home without access to education. This case was resolved in a hearing without any trial. The judge, Joseph Cornelius Waddy, upheld the students’ right to education, finding that they were to be given either public education services or private education paid for by the Washington, D.C., board of education. He noted that Constitutional rights must be afforded citizens despite the greater expense involved … the District of Columbia’s interest in educating the excluded children clearly must outweigh its interest in preserving its financial resources. … The inadequacies of the District of Columbia Public School System whether occasioned by insufficient funding or administrative inefficiency, certainly cannot be permitted to bear more heavily on the “exceptional” or handicapped child than on the normal child (Mills v. Board of Education 1972). Today, the optimal way to include people with disabilities students in standard classrooms is still being researched and debated. “Inclusion” is a method that involves complete immersion in a standard classroom, whereas “mainstreaming” balances time in a special-needs classroom with standard classroom participation. There continues to be social debate surrounding how to implement the ideal of universal access to education.

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