Amendment 4 states, “Nothing in this Constitution shall be
construed as creating or recognizing any right to education or
training at public expense…” It hasn’t always been this way. The
story of the struggle of public schools for adequate and
equitable funding for all children in Alabama is told in the
history of our fundamental law, the 1901 Constitution. In 1901,
Article VIV, Section 256, of the Constitution established public
education as a state responsibility and right for all children,
even though in racially segregated schools. It said, “The state
Legislature shall establish, organize, and maintain a liberal
system of public schools throughout the state for the benefit of
the children thereof…” That was the law until 1956. In reaction
to the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision
requiring integration of public schools, Amendment 111
eliminated the right to a public education and the state’s
responsibility to fund public schools. Public education became a
policy and depended on available r