Dive Brief:

• The Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that schools are not obligated to provide transportation for students to get to and from campus.
• This particular class-action case was filed by angry parents who disagreed with Franklin Township Community Schools' decision to stop a free bus service during the 2011-12 school year.
• The lawsuit argued that students have constitutional rights to equal educational access, and therefore a right to bus services. The court, however, disagreed, saying that while the constitution does say students have a right to free public education, "the framers did not intend for every aspect of public education to be free."

Dive Insight:

This case is particularly important as more charter schools crop up, as they allow students to attend from anywhere in the city. If buses are not required, it would limit access for certain students. Charter schools in Indiana have already had the freedom from providing transport, but this case made it clear that traditional public schools didn't have to pay for transportation, either. 

What's particularly confounding is that it is illegal to provide a pay-for-service bus system in Indiana, but it's not illegal to just not provide buses at all.

The extent of a students' right to an education is one that state courts have been asked to rule on several times lately. In November, for example, a Michigan Court of Appeals rejected a case brought forth by the American Civil Liberties Union that alleged that Highland Park School District was in violation of the Michigan Constitution by failing to provide an adequate education for its students.