The Right to Civic Education: A Conversation with Judge William E. Smith

Join Michael A. Rebell, founder and executive director of the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University, co-convener of DemocracyReady New York, and lead counsel on Cook v. McKee, in a conversation with Judge William E. Smith, who presided over the case in Rhode Island, to discuss civic education as a constitutional right. Rebell, who was lead counsel in Cook v. McKee, a major federal case brought to establish civic preparation as a right under the US Constitution, will engage in a conversation with Judge William E. Smith, the Rhode Island federal judge in the case who ruled against the plaintiffs, but has since become a major advocate for civic education. Andrew E. Brennen, co-founder and chair of Kentucky Student Voice Team, will introduce the discussion, and Nancy Xiong, a student organizer at Alliance Rhode Island South East and a former student plaintiff in Cook, will kick off the Q&A session. This event is co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Civic Learning Coalition and Kentucky Student Voice Team.