State Constitution Education Clause Language

This resource from Education Law Center provides portions of education clauses from the state constitutions of all 50 states.

From the resource:

Below are portions of the education clauses from the state constitutions. Most clauses contain the statements printed below, which are followed by more extensive description of the structure of the system (e.g. boards and commissioners of education, land, etc.). Many states also include nondiscrimination clauses or specifically prohibit the use of public funds for sectarian schools. The state constitutions also frequently set up permanent public schools funds, most of which provisions are now archaic.

See, also, the citations for all 50 state constitutions’ education clauses, below.

Some of the more notable or well-known clauses come from the constitutions of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Montana, New York, Washington, and Florida.

Some of the most frequent phrases used to describe public or common schools include “thorough and efficient,” (CO, ID, IL, KN, MD, MN, NJ, OH, PA, TX, WV) “general,” “uniform,” and quite often “free.” “General and uniform” is used in AZ, ID, IN, MN, NC,
OR, SD, and WA. Some states also make provisions to “secure the people the advantages and opportunities of education” (AR, MA, MT, NH, NC, RI, SD, WY) or similar language. Many states also mention the need for a “general diffusion of knowledge.” Many enthusiastic clauses introduce education as a democratic imperative (AR, CA, FL, IL, IN, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NH, NC, ND, RI, SD, TN, TX).