Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case presents the question whether a State, consistently with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may refuse to employ as elementary and secondary school teachers aliens who are eligible for United States citizenship but who refuse to seek naturalization.
I
New York Education Law § 3001 (3) (McKinney 1970) forbids certification as a public school teacher of any person who is not a citizen of the United States, unless that person has
A three-judge District Court was convened pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 2281 (1970 ed.). Applying the "close judicial scrutiny” standard of Graham v. Richardson,
II
A
The decisions of this Court regarding the permissibility of statutory classifications involving aliens have not formed air unwavering line over the years. State regulation of the employment of aliens long has been subject to constitutional constraints. In Yick Wo v. Hopkins,
Over time, the Court’s decisions gradually have restricted the activities from which States are free to exclude aliens. The first sign that the Court would question the constitutionality of discrimination against aliens even in areas affected with a “public interest” appeared in Oyama v. California,
Although our more recent decisions have departed substantially from the public-interest doctrine of Truax’s day, they have not abandoned the general principle that some state functions are so bound up with the operation of the State as
“Such power inheres in the State by virtue of its obligation, already noted above, 'to preserve the basic conception of a political community.’. . . And this power and responsibility of the State applies, not only to the qualifications of voters, but also to persons holding state elective or important nonelective executive, legislative, and judicial positions, for officers who participate directly in the formulation, execution, or review of broad public policy perform functions that go to the heart of representative government.”413 U. S., at 647 (citation omitted).
The exclusion of aliens from such governmental positions would not invite as demanding scrutiny from this Court. Id., at 648. See also Nyquist v. Mauclet, supra, at 11; Perkins v. Smith,
Applying the rational-basis standard, we held last Term that New York could exclude aliens from the ranks of its police force. Foley v. Connelie,
B
In determining whether, for purposes of equal protection analysis, teaching in public schools constitutes a governmental function, we look to the role of public education and to the degree of responsibility and discretion teachers possess in fulfilling that role. See Foley v. Connelie, supra, at 297. Each of these considerations supports the conclusion that public school teachers may be regarded as performing a task “that
Public education, like the police function, “fulfills a most fundamental obligation of government to its constituency.” Foley, supra, at 297. The importance of public schools in the preparation of individuals for participation as citizens, and in the preservation of the values on which our society rests, long has been recognized by our decisions:
“Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education*77 both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment.” Brown v. Board of Education,347 U. S. 483 , 493 (1954).
See also Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver, Colo.,
Within the public school system, teachers play a critical part in developing students’ attitude toward government and understanding of the role of citizens in our society. Alone among employees of the system, teachers are in direct, day-today contact with students both in the classrooms and in the other varied activities of a modern school. In shaping the students’ experience to achieve educational goals, teachers by necessity have wide discretion over the way the course material is communicated to students. They are responsible for presenting and explaining the subject matter in a way that is both comprehensible and inspiring. No amount of standardization of teaching materials or lesson plans can eliminate the personal qualities a teacher brings to bear in achieving these goals. Further, a teacher serves as a role model for his students, exerting a subtle but important influence over their
Furthermore, it is clear that all public school teachers, and not just those responsible for teaching the courses most directly related to government, history, and civic duties, should
III
As the legitimacy of the State’s interest in furthering the educational goals outlined above is undoubted, it remains only to consider whether § 3001 (3) bears a rational relationship to this interest. The restriction is carefully framed to serve its purpose, as it bars from teaching only those aliens who have demonstrated their unwillingness to obtain United States citizenship.
Reversed
Notes
The statute provides:
“No person shall be employed or authorized to teach in the public schools of the state who is:
“3. Not a citizen. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply, however, to an alien teacher now or hereafter employed, provided such teacher shall make due application to become a citizen and thereafter within the time prescribed by law shall become a citizen. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-seven, to an alien teacher employed pursuant to regulations adopted by the commissioner of education permitting such employment.” N. Y. Educ. Law § 3001 (3) (McKinney 1970).
The statute contains an exception for persons who are ineligible for United States citizenship solely because of an oversubscribed quota. §3001-a (McKinney 1970). Because this statutory provision is in all respects narrower than the exception provided by regulation, see n. 2, infra, as a practical matter it has no effect.
The State does not certify the qualifications of teachers in the private schools, although it does require that such teachers be “competent.” N. Y. Educ. Law § 3204 (2) (McKinney Supp. 1978-1979). Accordingly, we are not presented with the question of, and express no view as to, the permissibility of a citizenship requirement pertaining to teachers in private schools.
The following regulation governs here:
“Citizenship. A teacher who is not a citizen of the United States or who has not declared intention of becoming a citizen may be issued a provisional certificate providing such teacher has the appropriate educational qualifications as defined in the regulations and (1) possesses skills or competencies not readily available among teachers holding citizenship, or (2) is unable to declare intention of becoming a citizen for valid statutory reasons.” 8 N. Y. C. R. R. § 80.2 (i) (1978).
Certification by the Commissioner of Education is not required of teachers at state institutions of higher education and the citizenship
At the time of her application Norwick had not yet met the postgraduate educational requirements for a permanent certificate and accordingly applied only for a temporary certificate, which also is governed by § 3001 (3). She since has obtained the necessary graduate degree for full certification. Dachinger previously had obtained a temporary certificate, which had lapsed at the time of her 1975 application. The record does not indicate whether Dachinger previously had declared an intent to obtain citizenship or had obtained the temporary certificate because of some applicable exception to the citizenship requirement.
That the significance of citizenship has constitutional dimensions also has been recognized by several of our decisions. In Trop v. Dulles,
The dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Blackmun, in reaching an opposite conclusion, appears to apply a different analysis from that employed in our prior decisions. Rather than considering whether public school teachers perform a significant government function, the inquiry mandated by Foley v. Connelie,
“Lawyers do indeed occupy professional positions of responsibility and influence that impose on them duties correlative with their vital right of access to the courts. Moreover, by virtue of their professional aptitudes and natural interests, lawyers have been leaders in government throughout the history of our country. Yet, they are not officials of government by virtue of being lawyers.”413 U. S., at 729 .
As San Antonio Independent School Dist. v. Rodriguez recognized, there is no inconsistency between our recognition of the vital significance of public education and our holding that access to education is not guaranteed by the Constitution.
The curricular requirements of New York’s public school system reflect some of the ways a public school system promotes the development of the understanding that is prerequisite to intelligent participation in the democratic process. The schools are required to provide instruction “to promote a spirit of patriotic and civic service and obligation and to foster in the children of the state moral and intellectual qualities which are essential in preparing to meet the obligations of citizenship in peace or in war . . ..” N. Y. Educ. Law § 801 (1) (McKinney 1969). Flag and other patriotic exercises also are prescribed, as loyalty is a characteristic of citizenship essential to the preservation of a country. § 802 (McKinney 1969 and Supp. 1978-1979). In addition, required courses include classes in civics, United States and New York history, and principles of American government. §§ 3204 (3) (a) (1), (2) (McKinney 1970).
Although private schools also are bound by most of these requirements, the State has a stronger interest in ensuring that the schools it most directly controls, and for which it bears the cost, are as effective as possible in teaching these courses.
Although the findings of scholars who have written on the subject are not conclusive, they generally reinforce the common-sense judgment, and the experience of most of us, that a teacher exerts considerable influence over the development of fundamental social attitudes in students, including those attitudes which in the broadest sense of the term may be viewed as political. See, e. g., R. Dawson & K. Prewitt, Political Socialization 158-167 (1969); R. Hess & J. Torney, The Development of Political Attitudes in Children 162-163, 217-218 (1967). Cf. Note, Aliens’ Right to Teach: Political Socialization and the Public Schools, 85 Yale L. J. 90, 99-104 (1975).
Appellees contend that restriction of an alien’s freedom to teach in public schools is contrary to principles of diversity of thought and academic freedom embodied in the First Amendment. See also id., at 106-109. We think that the attempt to draw an analogy between choice of citizenship and political expression or freedom of association is wide of the mark, as the argument would bar any effort by the State to promote particular values and attitudes toward government. Section 3001 (3) does not inhibit appellees from expressing freely their political or social views or from associating with whomever they please. Cf. Givhan v. Western Line Consol. School Dist.,
At the primary school level, for which both appellees sought certification, teachers are responsible for all of the basic curriculum.
In New York, for example, all certified teachers, including those in the secondary schools, are required to be available for up to five hours of teaching a week in subjects outside their specialty. 8 N. Y. C. R. R. § 80.2(c) (1978).
See n. 2, supra.
As our cases have emphasized, resident aliens pay taxes, serve in the Armed Forces, and have made significant contributions to our country in private and public endeavors. See In re Griffiths,
Appellees argue that the State cannot rationally exclude aliens from teaching positions and yet permit them to vote for and sit on certain local school boards. We note, first, that the State’s legislature has not expressly endorsed this policy. Rather, appellants as an administrative matter have interpreted the statute governing New York City’s unique community school boards, N. Y. Educ. Law § 2590-c (4) (McKinney Supp. 1978-1979), to permit aliens who are the parents of public school students
Dissenting Opinion
Once again the Court is asked to rule upon the constitutionality of one of New York’s many statutes that impose a
As the Court acknowledges, ante, at 72, its decisions regarding the permissibility of statutory classifications concerning aliens “have not formed an unwavering line over the years.”
On the other hand, the Court frequently has invalidated a state provision that denies a resident alien the right to engage in specified occupational activity: Yick Wo v. Hopkins,
Indeed, the Court has held more than once that state classifications based on alienage are “inherently suspect and subject to close judicial scrutiny.” Graham v. Richardson,
There is thus a line, most recently recognized in Foley v. Connelie, between those employments that a State in its wisdom constitutionally may restrict to United States citizens, on the one hand, and those employments, on the other, that the State may not deny to resident aliens. For me, the present case falls on the Sugarman-Griffiths-Flores de Otero-Mauclet side of that line, rather than on the narrowly isolated Foley side.
We are concerned here with elementary and secondary education in the public schools of New York State. We are not concerned with teaching at the college or graduate levels. It seems constitutionally absurd, to say the least, that in these lower levels of public education a Frenchman may not teach French or, indeed, an Englishwoman may not teach the grammar of the English language. The appellees, to be sure, are resident “aliens” in the technical sense, but there is not a word in the record that either appellee does not have roots in this country or is unqualified in any way, other than the imposed requirement of citizenship, to teach. Both appellee Norwick and appellee Dachinger have been in this country for
But the Court, to the disadvantage of appellees, crosses the line from Griffiths to Foley by saying, ante, at 75, that the “distinction between citizens and aliens, though ordinarily irrelevant to private activity, is fundamental to the definition and government of a State.” It then concludes that public school teaching “constitutes a governmental function,” ibid., and that public school teachers may be regarded as performing a task that goes “to the heart of representative government.” Ante, at 76. The Court speaks of the importance of public schools in the preparation of individuals for participation as citizens, and in the preservation of the values on which
I perceive a number of difficulties along the easy road the Court takes to this conclusion:
First, the New York statutory structure itself refutes the argument. Section 3001 (3), the very statute at issue here, provides for exceptions with respect to alien teachers “employed pursuant to regulations adopted by the commissioner of education permitting such employment.” Section 3001-a (McKinney 1970) provides another exception for persons ineligible for United States citizenship because of oversubscribed quotas. Also, New York is unconcerned with any citizenship qualification for teachers in the private schools of the State, even though the record indicates that about 18% of the pupils at the elementary and secondary levels attend private schools. The education of those pupils seems not to be inculcated with something less than what is desirable for citizenship and what the Court calls an influence “crucial to the continued good health of a democracy.” Ante, at 79. The State apparently, under § 3001 (3), would not hesitate to employ an alien teacher while he waits to attain citizenship, even though he may fail ever to attain it. And the stark fact that the State permits some aliens to sit on certain local school boards, N. Y. Educ. Law § 2590-c (4) (McKinney Supp. 1978-1979), reveals how shallow and indistinct is New York’s line of demarcation between citizenship and noncitizenship. The Court’s at
Second, the New York statute is all-inclusive in its disqualifying provisions: “No person shall be employed or authorized to teach in the public schools of the state who is . . . [n]ot a citizen.” It sweeps indiscriminately. It is “neither narrowly confined nor precise in its application,” nor limited to the accomplishment of substantial state interests. Sugarman v. Dougall,
Third, the New York classification is irrational. Is it better to employ a poor citizen teacher than an excellent resident alien teacher? Is it preferable to have a citizen who has never seen Spain or a Latin American country teach Spanish to eighth graders and to deny that opportunity to a resident alien who may have lived for 20 years in the culture of Spain or Latin America? The State will know how to select its teachers responsibly, wholly apart from citizenship, and can do so selectively and intelligently.
Fourth, it is logically impossible to differentiate between this case concerning teachers and In re Griffiths concerning attorneys. If a resident alien may not constitutionally be barred from taking a state bar examination and thereby becoming qualified to practice law in the courts of a State, how is one to comprehend why a resident alien may constitutionally be barred from teaching in the elementary and secondary levels of a State’s public schools? One may speak proudly of the role model of the teacher, of his ability to mold young minds, of his inculcating force as to national ideals, and of his profound influence in the impartation of our society’s values. Are the attributes of an attorney.any the less? He represents us in our critical courtroom controversies even when citizenship and loyalty may be questioned. He stands as an officer of every court in which he practices. He is responsible for strict adherence to the announced and implied standards of professional, conduct and to the requirements of evolving ethical codes, and for honesty and integrity in his professional
“Lawyers do indeed occupy professional positions of responsibility and influence, that impose on them duties correlative with their vital right of access to the courts. Moreover, by virtue of their professional aptitudes and natural interests, lawyers have been leaders in government throughout the history of our country.”413 U. S., at 729 .9
If an attorney has a constitutional right to take a bar examination and practice law, despite his being a resident alien, it is impossible for me to see why a resident alien, otherwise completely competent and qualified, as these appellees concededly are, is constitutionally disqualified from teaching in the public schools of the great State of New York. The
I respectfully dissent.
One of the appellees in Nyquist v. Mauclet,
This particular citizenship requirement had its origin in 1918 N. Y. Laws, ch. 158, effective Apr. 4, 1918.
“To be sure, the course of decisions protecting the employment rights of resident aliens has not been an unswerving one.” In re Griffiths,
Appellee Norwick is a summa cum laude graduate of a Massachusetts college and received an A average in full-time graduate work in the State University of New York at Albany. She has taught both in this country and in Great Britain.
Appellee Dachinger is a cum laude graduate, with a major in German, of Lehman College, a unit of the City University of New York, and possesses a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from that institution. She has taught at a day-care center in the Bronx.
Each appellee, thus, has received and excehed in educational training the State of New York itself offers.
See In re Griffiths,
One, of course, can agree with this observation. One may concede, also, that public schools are an “ ‘assimilative force’ by which diverse and conflicting elements in our society are brought together on a broad but common ground,” ante, at 77, and that the inculcation of fundamental values by our public schools is necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system.
In In re Griffiths the Court significantly has observed:
“Connecticut has wide freedom to gauge on a case-by-case basis the fitness of an applicant to practice law. Connecticut can, and does, require appropriate training and familiarity with Connecticut law. Apart from such tests of competence, it requires a new lawyer to take both an ‘attorney’s oath’ to perform his functions faithfully and honestly and a ‘commissioner’s oath’ to ‘support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Connecticut.’ Appellant has indicated her willingness and ability to subscribe to the substance of both oaths, and Connecticut may quite properly conduct a character investigation to insure in any given case ‘that an applicant is not one who “swears to an oath pro forma while declaring or manifesting his disagreement with or indifference to the oath.” Bond v. Floyd,385 U. S. 116 , 132.’ Law Students*88 Research Council v. Wadmond,401 U. S., at 164 . Moreover, onee admitted to the bar, lawyers are subject to continuing scrutiny by the organized bar and the courts. In addition to discipline for unprofessional conduct, the range of post-admission sanctions extends from judgments for contempt to criminal prosecutions and disbarment. In sum, the Committee simply has not established that it must exclude all aliens from the practice of law in order to vindicate its undoubted interest in high professional standards.”413 U. S., at 725-727 (footnotes omitted).
See also Stockton v. Ford,
In order to keep attorneys on the nongovernmental side of the classification line, the Court continued:
“Yet, they are not officials of government by virtue of being lawyers. Nor does the status of holding a license to practice law place one so close to the core of the political process as to make him a formulator of government policy.”413 U. S., at 729 .