William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
Abstract
This Article will begin in Part I with an overview of charter schools in the United States and a brief history of charter school growth in the United States. Part II then turns to focus upon charter schools and their growth in the state of North Carolina, emphasizing their legal uniqueness in relation to the North Carolina Constitution.
Second, CDS’s [Charter Day School, Inc.] dress code included a restriction for girls only— girls were required to wear either a dress or skorts (a combination of shorts covered with a skirt). Girls were not permitted to wear pants or shorts. The justification was based upon the principles of chivalry that include the fact that women and men are to take on very particular social roles. Part III of this Article will set out the facts of Peltier [Peltier v. Charter Day School, Inc.] and the dress code issues at CDS. Part IV will then explore the history and tradition of chivalry in detail, setting out its clear tradition of expected social roles for men and women.
Following this historical and traditional analysis of chivalry, Part V turns its focus upon the U.S. judiciary, providing an overview of cases concerning either, one, historical and traditional roles of women or, two, mentions of chivalry or medieval ideas within a given case. Part VI turns then to the theory of benevolent sexism to demonstrate how chivalric foundations in relation to gender always discriminate against females. Finally, in Part VII this Article addresses future considerations in light of the current political push to provide state funds not only to charter schools, but for private schools and home-schooling as well. Part VII demonstrates how a historical and traditional analysis of chivalry cannot avoid discrimination issues, no matter the arguments of the value of some chivalric virtues.
This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.