Education plays a crucial role in sustaining a democratic society. As such, it is critical that we understand and are able to critique the legal and public policy choices that shape our educational systems. This course will explore issues of equity, access, and reform in American education, particularly as it pertains to race and class. It will examine the right to equal educational opportunity and will consider the various state and federal legal efforts to improve K-12 education and to increase accessibility to institutions of higher education. Topics that will be discussed include, among other things, school desegregation, school finance litigation, school choice, access to higher education, and affirmative action. We will scrutinize a variety of reform efforts, which may include the federal government’s expanding role in education, magnet programs, and charter schools. We will also examine higher education issues surrounding admissions policies such as racial-conscious affirmative action, percentage plans, class-based affirmative action, congress’ tax and spending clause in higher education, tenure and academic freedom, rights of students on campus and other legal issues. In addition to examining legal authority and the work of legal scholars, we will examine the writings of social scientists and education policy experts. Students may use the paper in this course to satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement.