At Florida State University, it was faculty members who took their case to the Supreme Court, arguing they were victims of age discrimination when the university let their salaries lag behind those of newer and younger faculty. That may be the case, but the justices said since the university had no history of discrimination to redress under federal law the faculty would have to fight the issue in state court. Opponents argued the equipment could be used to teach religious materials. The decision raises the question of what the justices will do if they have to decide if vouchers providing public funds to send children to private religious schools are constitutional. So far, the court has ducked its chances to take a voucher case.
Education is a crucible of American society.
The schools are at the eye of a collection of social and legal hurricanes. All these cases the court has faced turn on different points of the law. Some are not at all ideological, others heavily so. What's striking is how broadly the court shapes our lives in an area such as education even though the federal government has relatively little to do with the education process itself. Charles Bierbauer , CNN's senior Washington correspondent, covers the U.S. Supreme Court and public policy issues.