"Elevating Equality and Justice" is a concise and accessible book that explores ten important U.S. Supreme Court cases every teacher should know. Written with educators in mind, it provides clear explanations of the cases, their historical context, and their implications for education. The book is slightly boring (what SCOTUS case isn't?), but it was able to break down complex legal concepts and provide practical resources for teachers. Overall, it is a valuable reference guide for educators and students interested in educational equity and important laws in education.

I received an advanced copy of this text by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book will be life-changing for teachers! Equity is an important topic in today's culture so I hope others will look at this text for their own professional learning.

Overview:
Educators are extremely influential not just for academic outcomes, but also in life’s outcomes. Educators set up many expectations for students as to what the student is capable of, and how to treat one another. This book is about the cases that have changed how schools operate. Elucidating what educators can and cannot do. Informing who is to be taught and how. Each case is a product of the changing time. Each case is a product of parents wanting what is best for their children, and educators wanting what is best for their students. Every case is presented with what happened to lead up to the problem, how the problem got resolved by the supreme court, who is impacted by the case, and practical stories of the impact that the case had on academic life. Education is a very important factor in social life and the presented cases show how education has been modified to improve outcomes, but there are still many ways that education can be improved.

Caveats?
This is a short book directed at busy teachers, who will be able to find more resources on how to handle certain situations at the end of each case. Although the book’s efforts are for the betterment of school life, it has a slight political bias which can undermine understanding the issues from different perspectives.

I consider myself an avid reader, but there is something about legalize that makes my eyes glaze over and my brain shut down. This is partially why I appreciated Kim's book so much. The author breaks down these cases so that laypeople such as myself can understand their importance .

This book worked hard to make the cases feel accessible, and I think it was successful at that. It was still pretty boring to me, but it's something that I'm going to keep on hand for reference! It will help with my regular work, but also with classes i teach for educators about educational equity.

ELEVATING EQUITY AND JUSTICE by Robert Kim was recently added to our collection. Subtitled "Ten U.S. Supreme Court Cases Every Teacher Should Know," this text is primarily written for educators, but will also be a helpful reference guide for our students who often review cases like Tinker v. Des Moines or Lau v. Nichols. The surveyed cases deal with educational law and involve school districts, employees, and students; they span the time period from 1969 to 2017. Kim provides a short summary, historical context, and future implications with respect to each case. A former civil rights lawyer and education policy expert, he also provides commentary from educators and lists additional resources. Students could follow a similar template when they review these issues. ELEVATING EQUITY AND JUSTICE offers an update to Peter Irons' May it Please the Court and complements Jamin Raskin's We the Students, both of which are also on our shelves.

Thank you for letting me read this advanced readers copy! This is an excellent resource for educators and anyone interested in important laws in education. I think all schools should have at least one copy and hopefully professors will begin using this as an aid/college reading resource.

The book is clearly written and organized. I appreciate the inclusion of so much information and resources for each case. Not only do readers learn about the initial background of the case, but also what it means today, related cases that were impacted by the rulings, how you can learn more, and so much more to create a complete picture of each case and why everyone should know about them.

I really liked this because it explained each case in a way that I actually understand. It talked about different kinds of topics such as sexual harassment, immigrant students, racism, students with disabilities etc. definitely a must read!

Short and very well explained explanations of Supreme Court cases relevant to students, schools, and teachers on topics like student searches, bilingual education, and freedom of speech. The author does a good job of explaining the issues at hand, discussing what the court found, explaining the plain meaning of the legal jargon, and (importantly) what teachers and schools should do in light of the cases. Interesting and well written.