Equal Protection Classifications Based on English Language Learners

Equal Protection and Public Education Essay
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K-12 students are classified into various groups, as a result of the various factors. Examples of such factors include learners of English as a first language, grouping of students according to their abilities, and sports programs based on gender among many other factors. This paper seeks to explicate the significances of equal protection for the K-12 students within the specific group of classification through grouping of students based on abilities.
Ability grouping can be explicated as the organization of either elementary or secondary students into classes or groups for instructions based on perceived ability or the proven ability of different types of students CITATION Jos \l 1033 (Joseph E. Bryson). Students with the same ability are put in the same group, which therefore directly implies that students with higher ability are grouped together, the same case for students with moderate and lower abilities.
Grouping by ability has experienced both support and rejection from the general public, for instance in the early 20th century its popularity in the general public was quite high while in the 1930s and 1940s there was a significant drop in the support of the grouping by the general public CITATION Eve98 \l 1033 (Kelly, 1998). The proponents of the grouping cited its various significances while the opponents of it cited segregation as the major reason.
The Grouping on the basis of ability is an issue which has resulted in various distinct opinions by various education experts, non-experts and the general public at large in the nation CITATION Jos \l 1033 (Joseph E. Bryson). With the detailed history of the grouping, since its inception in the American public education system in the late 1860s, the law has played a critical role in addressing the challenges which arise as a result of using the grouping, more especially in scenarios whereby the grouping results into big levels of discrimination which are based on racial origin of a person. Such instances may result to civil suits where parents are said to sue educational institutions such as the case of Board of Education v. Rowley (1983). The parents...