Examination of Plyler v. Doe and its Aftermath, Including Additional Bases for Undocumented Students’ Access to Public Education

In Plyler v. Doe, the United States Supreme Court guaranteed undocumented children a free public education, yet more than twenty-five years later these students have not experienced substantial improvement in their educational achievement. Furthermore, scholars have found that Plyler “clearly is alive and well,”1 but it has endured federal and state legislative challenges. Thus, although the Supreme Court decided Plyler more than a quarter century ago, granting the opportunity of public education to undocumented children, it still faces challenges to its authority.