ABSTRACT
This is the first of three chapters dealing with issues of equity in education. This chapter looks at legal efforts to end discrimination based on race, gender, and national origin, which includes students who are English Language Learners (ELLs). The litigation and legislation examined here challenge a variety of discriminatory practices including de jure and de facto racial segregation, gender-based and language-based denial of equal educational opportunity, racial and gender discrimination in school discipline and athletics, racial and sexual harassment, and the grouping of students by age and ability level. Chapter 7 examines equity issues relating to students with special needs. For students with disabilities, equality of opportunity may require an educational program that is different, and in some cases separate, from that of the majority of students. Chapter 8 considers a third set of equity issues relating to the way public education is funded.
