Zalman Rothschild
Assistant Professor, Cardozo School of LawZalman Rothschild is Assistant Professor of Law and Horn Family Distinguished Research Scholar in Law and Religion at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Read moreA joint initiative between the University of Bergen
and CMI – Chr. Michelsen Institute
When is compulsory education state “indoctrination”?
This year marks the centennial of Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), a landmark decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a compulsory public school education law and established the rights of parents to direct their children’s education.
The important question in Pierce’s wake is when compulsory education is unconstitutional state “indoctrination”. This talk asks whether, one hundred years later, it is possible that we still do not have an answer. Pierce drew the line at a state compelling public-school attendance.
The Court granted states a license to control the subjects all students would be required to study, for how long, and at what level. In other words, the Court allowed states to create and control a statewide curriculum. Only, it prohibited states from mandating a particular form of education, even while allowing states to regulate its content.
The talk explores the extent to which it can be said that essentially every state law pertaining to the education of children is indoctrinating in some sense.
Moderator: Hege Helland
Zalman Rothschild is Assistant Professor of Law and Horn Family Distinguished Research Scholar in Law and Religion at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
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