PISCATAWAY V. TAXMAN
Mr.
M. Neyen—Social Studies Instructor
INTRODUCTION:
Affirmative Active has been a part of the American legal system since the 1970’s. Its original intention was to correct past injustices for those who had suffered from discrimination. Historically, woman, blacks, Hispanics and other groups had been denied equal access to the American dream of democracy and equal opportunity. Discrimination because of race, color, creed and place of origin is clearly forbidden by the American Constitution. Those who have suffered, up to then, had little recourse. Many had to exist on the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder, solely because of their ethnicity. The Public policy of Affirmative Action was a systematic approach to deal with long-term discrimination in employment and educational opportunities. There have been those who feel that Affirmative Action is morally, legally and ethically valid. It is a way to equalize the playing field for those seeking the “American dream”. There are others who strongly believe that Affirmative Action is a form of reverse discrimination and gives an unfair advantage to those Americans who are afforded privileges because of their backgrounds. The opponents of Affirmative Action feel that this Public Policy is a clear violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
The case you will evaluate in this web quest deals directly with this dilemma. You will have to critically think and make a legal decision.
A SYMBOL FOR ADVANCEMENT OR DISCRIMINATION?
CONSIDER THIS SCENERIOFOR
YOUR WEBQUEST
Your favorite teacher has lost his/her job because your school district has decided to remove one teacher from the business department. Their reason is based on the school’s budget. Based on the demographics of the school student population, the school district has decided to retain the business education teacher that most resembles the demographics of your school district. The school district is 60% black. A white female teacher was fired who had equal credentials. The black teacher was retained because of school district claim of “Affirmative Action”. The fired white teacher was extremely upset and ready to take legal action. You are the judge in this landmark case. It is your critical TASK to decide on the legality of the firing of the white teacher. Your judgment will shape the future for millions of Americans and the future of Affirmative Action, employment and educational opportunity. GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!!!!!
TASK: 
Your TASK will be to complete the following:
1: A position paper of a minimum of FIVE typewritten pages
2: The paper will use the resource information you have gathered from using
COMPULEGAL as it is described in the “process”.
3: The paper must contain a bibliography of a minimum of three Internet sources. You
should use outside text material as well.
4: The paper will include a discussion of the case
5: You also must include HISTORICAL TEXT material as background for your decision.
You may use the Civil Rights movement and other significant social events.
6: You will then write YOUR opinion acting as JUDGE in the
case. You describe the action that should be taken by the court in relation to
the Board of Education described in the “introduction”. This will determine the
validity of Affirmative Action in
PROCESS 
1: You will divide up into groups of FOUR to complete the paper in the task
2: Your goal is to evaluate the case described in the “Introduction”.
3: However to do this, you must first evaluate the case “
4:
CLICK
ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS TO COMPLETE THE TASK
A} Research the FACTS IN THE CASE
Read how to do INTERNET research for Compu-Legal
B} ANALYZE THE FACTS in the case-Fill in this format
C} Familiarize yourself with the GLOSSARY of terms
D} Complete the REASONING guide in the case using the template
found on this link to find Precedents and other information. The links are
listed on this site for you to research
E} Look at the actual DECISION
5:
Now you have enough information to summarize the
6: Apply this case to the hypothetical case in the Introduction
7: Now you can write an opinion on the legality of Affirmative Action
Be sure to include a DEFINITION of Affirmative Action
8: Include in your discussion the future of Affirmative
Action in
Include in this part of the paper the significance of the Title VII Civil Rights Act 1964
and the significance of the creation of the EE.
9: Discuss the values and ethics that are reflected by those who want Affirmative Action
and those who oppose it.
10: Include a paragraph on the effect of Affirmative Action
on race relations in
11: Utilize
the RESOURCES listed below to complete your paper
These
are precedents and outside source information on
Affirmative
Action
12:
Utilize “ASK a LEGAL
EAGLE” for questions you may have
RESOURCES: 
Project
legal- www.Maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html
Ask-A-Legal Eagle
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Case— Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Case—Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education (1986)
Michigan
Law School Case—(2003)
RUBRIC 
Students will
be evaluated using the following rubric:
Grade of A
¨
¨
Shows thorough understanding of the topic
¨
¨
Addresses all aspects of
the task
¨
¨
Shows ability to analyze, evaluate, compare/contrast issues
¨
¨
Richly supports topic with
relevant facts, examples, and details
¨
¨
Presents a strong and
well organized “case”
Grade of B
¨
¨
Shows a good understanding
of the topic
¨
¨
Addresses all aspects of
the task
¨
¨
Shows ability to analyze, evaluate issues
¨
¨
Includes relevant facts, examples, and details, but does
not
support all
aspects of the “case”
¨
¨
Presents an organized
“case”
Grade of C
¨
¨
Presents satisfactory understanding of the topic
¨
¨
Addresses most aspects
of the task
¨
¨
Able to analyze issues and events, but not in depth
¨
¨
Uses some relevant facts,
examples, and details
¨
¨
Presents “case”, but not very organized
Grade of D
¨
¨
Shows little understanding
of topic
¨
¨
Attempts to address topic, but uses vague and/or inaccurate
information
¨
¨
Uses little facts,
examples, or details
¨
¨
Does not present an
acceptable “case”
CONCLUSION:
From completing this web
quest you should have learned that Affirmative Action is a complex topic. It
has a legal and an emotional component. There are several precedents and
Supreme Court decisions that have been made regarding Affirmative Action. Yet
there is still much to be decided. The issues are embedded in history and in
the Constitution of the
You also now realize the importance
of the Supreme Court in the American system of checks and balances. The court
plays a major role in shaping the lives of all Americans.
You further are now familiar
with the use of the TIPS Con Law process and website. You can see how valuable
a tool it is in understanding Supreme Court decisions and critical issues in
American History.
Our next Con law
investigation will be to evaluate the
Social
Studies
Standard 1: History of the
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in
the history of the
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of
intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for
establishing governments; the governmental system of the
English
Language Arts
Standard 1: Language for Information and
Understanding
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for
information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect
data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations;
and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced
texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that
follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret,
apply, and transmit information.
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.