Kenneth Wang Professor of Law
Ph.D. LL.M. M.Phil. Columbia UniversityJ.D. Brooklyn Law SchoolM.A. Hunter CollegeB.A. Brooklyn College
Rosemary Salomone, the Kenneth Wang Professor of Law, teaches Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and seminars on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, and Children and the Law. In past years she has served as Associate Academic Dean and Director of the Center for Law and Public Policy. She is a Senior Fellow of the University’s Vincentian Center for Church and Society and a member of the University CRS Global Campus Committee.
Prior to St. John's, Professor Salomone was an Associate Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she taught education law, school finance, and language policy and was a lecturer in Harvard's Institute for Educational Management. She has been a recipient of numerous research and academic awards including St. John's University's highest honor, the St. Vincent de Paul Teacher-Scholar Award; the University Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award; and grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Spencer Foundation, and Harvard University. She has held fellowships at Columbia University School of Law and at the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute. She is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York where she served for ten years. She also is a former chair of the Section on Education Law of the Association of American Law Schools and of the Education and the Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where she served on the Council on Children. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Education Law Abstracting Journal and is a member of the Study Group on Language and the United Nations; the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality; and the Childhood, Law and Policy Network.
Professor Salomone has lectured internationally and published extensively on education law and policy and children's rights and has served as a legal consultant or expert witness in cases covering elementary, secondary, and higher education. She is the author of True American: Language, Identity, and the Education of Immigrant Children (Harvard University Press); Same, Different, Equal: Rethinking Single-Sex Schooling (Yale University Press) (selected as an "Outstanding Academic Title for 2005" by Choice Magazine); Visions of Schooling: Conscience, Community, and Common Education (Yale University Press); and Equal Education Under Law: Legal Rights and Federal Policy in the Post "Brown" Era (St. Martin's Press). Her most recent book is the Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press, 2021) (awarded the 2023 Premio Pavese in non-fiction by Italy's Fondazione Cesare Pavese).
Professor Salomone is a graduate of Columbia University (Ph.D., LL.M., M.Phil.), Brooklyn Law School (J.D.), Hunter College (M.A.), and Brooklyn College (B.A.).
Books
The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press, 2021) (awarded the 2023 Premio Pavese in non-fiction by Italy's Fondazione Cesare Pavese)
True American: Language, Identity, and the Education of Immigrant Children (Harvard University Press, 2010)
Same, Different, Equal: Rethinking Single-Sex Schooling (Yale University Press, 2003) (selected by Choice Magazine as an “Outstanding Academic Title for 2005”)
Visions of Schooling: Conscience, Community, and Common Education (Yale University Press, 2000)
Equal Education under Law: Legal Rights and Federal Policy in the Post-“Brown" Era (St. Martin's Press, 1986)
Articles and Book Chapters
“In Pursuit of Sustainable Development: A View from the Philippines," in Language and Sustainability (PalgraveMacMillan, forthcoming)
"The Unstoppable Spread of English in the Global University," 110 International Higher Education 9 (Spring 2022)
“The Downside of English’s Dominance,” The Wall Street Journal, November 27-28, 2021, C3, adapted excerpt from The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press, 2021)
"The Rise of Global English: Challenges for English-Medium Instruction and Language Rights," 39 Language Problems & Language Planning 245 (2015)
"Rights and Wrongs in the Debate over Single-Sex Schooling," 93 Boston University Law Review 101 (2013)
"Educating English Learners: Reconciling Bilingualism and Accountability," 6 Harvard Law and Policy Review 115 (2012)
"Language, Identity, and Multiculturalism: Transnational Views on Immigrant Education," 87 Notre Dame Law Review 2031 (2012)
“The Common School Before and After Brown: Democracy, Equality, and Productivity," Essay Review of Martha Minow, In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Educational Landmark (Oxford University Press, 2010), 120 Yale Law Journal 1454 (2011)
“Caught in a Time Warp: The Education Rights of English Language Learners,” 25 St. John’s Journal of Civil Rights & Economic Development 141 (2010)
“Behind the Veil: Religion, Ethnicity, and Democratic Schooling in France and the U.S.,” 49 Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 68 (2010)
"Transnational Schooling and the New Immigrants: Developing Dual Identities in the United States," 19 Intercultural Education 383 (October 2009)
"Language Rights and Schooling in the Age of Transnationalism," in Proceedings of the AIDL/ALL Tenth International Conference on Language and Law, Galway, Ireland, June 2006 (2008)
"The Story of the Virginia Military Institute: Negotiating Sameness and Difference," in Education Law Stories, ed. Michael Olivas and Ronna Greff Schneider (Foundation Press, 2007)
“Il Dibatto in USA Sulla Single-Sex Schooling," in Maschi e Femmine a Scuola: Le Differenze di Genere in Educazione, ed. Giuseppe Zanniello (Societa Editrice Internazionale, 2007)
"Public Single-Sex and Coeducational Schools," in Encyclopedia on Gender and Education, ed. Barbara Bank (Greenwood Press, 2007)
"Iqualidad y diferencia. La cuestion de la equidad de genero en la education," 238 Rivista Espanola de Pedagogia 433 (septiembre-diciembre 2007)
“Single-Sex Programs: Resolving the Research Conundrum,” 108 (1)Teachers College Record 778 (2006)
"Myths and Realities in the Sameness/Difference Debate," 11 Cardozo Women's Law Journal 583 (2005)
“Feminist Voices in the Debate Over Single-Sex Schooling: Finding Common Ground,” 11 Michigan Journal of Gender and Law 63 (2004)
“The Power of Language in the Classroom,” XIX Thought and Action 9 (Winter 2004)
“Charting a Constitutional Course Between Private Values and Public Commitments: The Case of School Vouchers,” in School Choice: The Moral Debate, ed. Alan Wolfe, (Princeton University Press, 2003)
“The Legality of Single-Sex Education in the United States: Sometimes ‘Equal’ Means ‘Different," in Gender in Policy and Practice: Perspectives on Single-Sex and Coeducational Schooling, ed. Amanda Datnow and Lea Hubbard (RoutledgeFalmer Press, 2002)
“Common Education and the Democratic Ideal,” in Making Good Citizens: Education and Civil Society, ed. Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti (Yale University Press, 2001)
“Rich Kids, Poor Kids, and the Single-Sex Education Debate,” 34 Akron Law Review 209 (2000)
“Single-Sex Schooling: Law, Policy, and Research,” in Brookings Papers on Education Policy 1999, ed. Diane Ravitch (Brookings Institution, 1999)
“Struggling with the Devil: A Case Study of Values in Conflict,” 32 Georgia Law Review 633 (1998)
“Individual Rights, Community Consensus, and National Goals: The Challenge for Education in a Pluralistic Society,” in Rechstheorie: Changing Structures in Modern Legal Systems and the Legal State Ideology, Beiheft 18, ed. Eugenio Bulygin, Burton M. Leiser, and Mark Van Hoecke, eds. (Dunker & Humbolt, 1998)
“Common Schools, Uncommon Values: Listening to the Voices of Dissent,” 14 Yale Law and Policy Review 169 (1996)
“The Ties That Bind: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Gender, Ethnicity, and the Practice of Law,” 3 Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 177 (1995)
“Public Forum Doctrine and the Perils of Thinking Categorically: Lessons from Lamb’s Chapel,” 24 New Mexico Law Review 1 (1994)
“The Impact of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier on Local Policy and Practice,” 78 NASSP Bulletin 47 (1994)
“Free Speech and School Governance in the Wake of Hazelwood,” 26 Georgia Law Review 253 (1992)
“From Widmar to Mergens: The Winding Road of First Amendment Analysis,” 18 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 295 (1991)
“Judicial Oversight of Agency Enforcement: The Adams and WEAL Litigation, in Justice and School Systems, ed. Barbara Flicker (Temple University Press, 1990)
“Children versus the State” in Caring for America’s Children, 37 Annals of the Academy of Political Science 182 (1989)
“Primary and Secondary Education and the Poor,” in The State and the Poor in the 1980s, ed. Mary Jo Bane and Manuel Carballo (Auburn House Publishers, 1984)
“Title VI and the Intent/Impact Debate: A Critical Look at ‘Coextensiveness,’” 10 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 15 (1982)
“Equal Educational Opportunity and the New Federalism: A Look Backward and Forward,” 17 Urban Education 213 (1982)
“Title IX and Employment Discrimination: A Wrong in Search of Remedy,” 9 Journal of Law and Education 433 (1980) (cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in North Haven Board of Education v. Bell, 456 U.S. 512 (1982))
“North Haven and Dougherty: Narrowing the Scope of Title IX,” 10 Journal of Law and Education 191 (1981)
“Enforcing Educational Rights through Private Actions: One Step Beyond Bakke,” 8 NOLPE School Law Journal 76 (1978)
Commentaries and Remarks
“Student Internationalisation Plan May Be a Model for Others,” University World News, May 4, 2023, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230504111949902
“Hindi Expansion: Modi May Come to Regret What He Wished For,” University World News, Nov. 5, 2022, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221101101449956&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GLNL0715
"The Inequities of English Use in Global HE Must Be Addressed," Times Higher Education, Feb. 1, 2022, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/inequities-english-use-global-he-must-be-addressed
“China and the Geopolitics of Language in Africa" (Commentary), University World News, December 11, 2021, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20211210060544565
"Constitutional Court Resets the Narrative on Afrikaans" (Commentary), University World News, October 14, 2021, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20211012220920821
“Court Moves Beyond the Past in Favouring English” (Commentary), University World News, October 19, 2019,
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20191017160303180
"Court Decision on Language Provokes Cries of Neo-Colonialism" (Commentary), University World News, June 8, 2019, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190603103315520
"Dutch Court Defers Decision on English in Universities" (Commentary), University World News, July 27, 2018, http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180724140627526
"A Court Decision with Consequences for HE" (Commentary), University World News, May 4, 2018,
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2018050413433092&mode=print
"Court Ruling Misses the Mark on Language Rights" (Commentary), University World News, January 19, 2018,
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180117110720340&query=court+ruling+misses+the+mark
"Linguistic Battle Sparks Revolt Against Globalisation" (Commentary), University World News, March 10, 2017, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20170307132621476
Public Single-Sex Schools: What Oprah Knew" (Commentary), Teachers College Record, November 4, 2015, http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=18241
"Why English Is Not Enough" (Commentary), University World News, January 30, 2015, http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20150128065508699&mode=print.
“Unity through Diversity” (Commentary), Times Higher Education (London), October 3, 2013,
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/unity-through-diversity/2007780.article
“Should the ‘Veil’ Be Banned in Higher Education” (Commentary), University World News, August 31, 2013,
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130828134339290; reprinted as “Opinion:
Should France Ban Islamic Veils in Public Universities? The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 6, 2013, http://www.chronicle.com/article/Opinion-Should-France-Ban/141519/
"The Rise of English in Academe-- A Cautionary Tale" (Commentary), University World News, July 20, 2013,
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130718115309353
"The End of French?" (Views), Inside Higher Education, June 7, 2013,http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/06/07/essay-debate-france-over-use-english-universities
"The Foreign Language Deficit: A Problem in Search of an Obvious Solution" (Commentary), TC Record, January 28, 2011, http://www.tcrecord.org
"Pursuing the Dream" (Views), Inside Higher Education, May 3, 2010,
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/05/03/salomone
"Debunking Myths on Immigrant Education" (Political Bookworm), Washington Post, April 6, 2010,
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/political-bookworm/2010/04/debunking_myths_on_immigrant_e.html
"Does NCLB Promote Monolingualism?" (Commentary), Education Week, March 17, 2010 at 32,
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/03/17/25salomone_ep.h29.html
"A Place for Women's Colleges" (Commentary), The Chronicle Review, February 16, 2007 at B20
"Putting Single-Sex Schooling Back on Course" (Commentary), Education Week, December 6, 2006 at 44
"Single-Sex Schooling and the Language of Difference," TC Record, November 6, 2006, http://www.tcrecord.org/
“Home Schooling and Religious Freedom: Who Owns the Child?” (Commentary), Education Week, October 20, 2004 at 52
“Concluding Remarks,” Symposium on Brown v. Board of Education at Fifty: Have We Achieved Its Goals?" 78 St. John’s Law Review 321 (2004)
“Single-Sex Programs for At-Risk Students: A Fresh Look at an Old Idea” (Commentary), Education Week, September 10, 2003 at 44
“Single-Sex Schools” (Commentary), National Law Journal, July 22, 2002 at A25
“Introduction, Legal Dimensions of School Vouchers,” Symposium on Law, Religion, and the Public Good," 73 St. John’s Law Review 101 (2002)
Remarks, “State Regulation of School Vouchers: The Next Round of Debate,” Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal, Symposium on the Public Education Funding “Deficit:” A Legal Analysis of Proposed Solutions (Spring 2002)
“Prayer Rule in the Ballpark” (Commentary), National Law Journal, June 24, 2000 at A15
“Education for Democratic Citizenship” (Commentary), Education Week, March 22, 2000 at 48 (reprinted in Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Secondary Education, ed. Dennis L. Evans (McGraw-Hill, 2002))
“Schools as Democratizing Institutions” (Commentary), Fellow Observer (Open Society Institute Newsletter), Spring 2000 at 3
“Sometimes ‘Equal’ Means ‘Different’” (Commentary), Education Week, October 8, 1997 at 44
"The VMI Case: Affirmation of Equal Educational Opportunity for Women," Trial, October 1996
“All-Girls School for Spanish Harlem” (Commentary), New York Law Journal, August 5, 1996 at 2
“A Woman’s Place Is…” (Commentary), National Law Journal, July 22, 1996 at A16
“Forging a National Agenda for a Just Society” (Commentary), Education Week, August 2, 1984 at 44
“Preserving the Mandate of Title IX” (Commentary), Education Week, February 15, 1984 at 24
"Geopolitics and the Rise of English," Chatter (Lawfare) Podcast (book interview), August 2023, https://shows.acast.com/chatter/episodes/geopolitics-and-the-rise-of-the-english-language-with-rosema
"Transformative Constitutionalism in South Africa: New Developments in the Narrative on Language Rights in Education,” 27th Annual International Law Conference, sponsored by the South African Education Law Association, Cape Town, August 2023.
“Transformative Constitutionalism: The South African Constitutional Court and Shifting Narratives on Language Rights to Education,” 5th International Legal Linguistics Workshop, Austrian Association of Legal Linguistics and the Department of African Language Studies, University of Western Cape, December 2022.
“The Ties That Bind: Is English Reshaping Identity and Belonging in Europe?” 27th International Conference of Europeanists, sponsored by the Council for European Studies, June 2022
"The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language," Berkeley Center for Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Book Talk), February 28, 2022; Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, Global Webinar Series, The Future of Global Governance (Book Talk), May 26, 2022
“Educating English Language Learners for the Global Economy: Policy, Politics, and the Law,” National Council of State Attorneys Conference, October 2021
The Rise of Global English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press, 2021) (book interview), Actual Fluency Podcast, December 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YJoCKHLRpM)
“In Search of Transformative Constitutionalism: The South African Constitutional Court and the Right to Education in the Language of One’s Choice,” Conference on Inequality in a Time of Global Crisis, sponsored by the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law and the University of Cape Town, South Africa, July 2021
“In Search of Transformative Constitutionalism: The South African Constitutional Court and the Right to Education in the Language of One’s Choice,” Language Policy Research Seminar Series, University of Leiden, the Netherlands, May 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgO56qGIHI&t=201s)
"Transformative Constitutionalism: Education and Linguistic Rights in South Africa," Global Summit sponsored by the International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism, University of Texas School of Law, January 2021
"Language Rights and Migrant Education in a World Dominated by English," Seminar on Migration, Language, and Justice, Princeton University, November 2018
“Public Single-Sex Schools Caught in a Web of Law, Politics, and Science,” Symposium on Gender Equality: Progress & Possibilities, University of Toledo College of Law, October 2017
"Global English, Vulnerable Populations, and Educational Access: Lessons from the Courts in Three Countries," Symposium on Language, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Vulnerable Populations sponsored by the Working Group on Language and the United Nations in cooperation with the University of Hartford's Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems, New York, May 2017.
"Heritage Languages and Educational Equality in the Global Knowledge Economy," international symposium on "Politiques Linguistiques Familiales et Processus de Transmissions Intergénérationnelles en Contexte Migratoire," Université Catholique de l’Ouest, Angers, France. May 2016 (https://vimeo.com/170176525)
“Educational Equity, SDGs, and the Commodification of English in the Global Economy,” Symposium on Language and the Sustainable Development Goals, sponsored by the Working Group on Language and the United Nations in cooperation with the University of Hartford's Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems, New York, April 2016
“Rights and Responsibilities in the Debate over English as ‘Lingua Academia,’” Colloque sur Le Plurilinguisme, Le Pluriculturalisme et l’Anglais dans la Mondialisation, Université Catholique de l’Ouest, Angers, France, October 2015
“Europe’s Multilingualism Agenda: Educational Quality, Globalization, and Linguistic Justice,” Workshop on the European, International Intercultural and Pluri-Linguistic Component of Quality in Education: A “Generational” Right to Education, Faculty of Law, University of Trento, Italy, September 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcIDbe9peXQ) (1:14)
"The Rise of Global English: The Challenges for Language Rights Across Education," First Worldwide Congress for Language Rights, University of Teramo, Italy, May 2015
"Europe's Multilingualism Agenda in the Face of English: Rhetoric, Reality, and Linguistic Justice," Symposium on Language and Exclusion, sponsored by the Working Group on Language and the United Nations in cooperation with the University of Harford's Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems, New York, May 2015
"Making New Citizens: Transatlantic Perspectives on Language, Belonging, and Immigrant Schooling," 23rd World Congress of Political Science, sponsored by the International Political Science Association, Montreal, July 2014
"Global English: Revealing Lessons from France and Italy," Going Global 2014: The Conference for Leaders of International Education, sponsored by the British Council, Miami, April 2014
"The Rise of Global English: The Challenges for Language Rights Across Education," Symposium on Language and Equality, sponsored by the Working Group on Language and the United Nations in cooperation with the University of Hartford's Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems, New York, April 2014
"Rights and Wrongs in the Debate over Single-Sex Schooling," Conference on Evaluating Claims about "The End of Men": Legal and Other Perspectives, Boston University School of Law, October 2012 (www.bu.edu/bulawreview/symposium/evaluating-claims-about-the-end-of-men)
"The Law and Politics of Single-Sex Schooling: Lessons from the United States," Bilbao and Madrid, Spain, March 2012
"Language, Culture, and Identity: Education Rights of Immigrant and Other Linguistic Minority Children," Conference on Law and Culture: Human Rights, Lugano, Switzerland, September 2011.
"Single-Sex Schooling: Looking Back and Moving Forward," Association of American Law Schools Meeting, Education Law Section Program, Chicago, January 2012.
"Behind the Veil: Religion, Ethnicity, and Democratic Schooling in France and the U.S.," Roundtable on Laicité in Comparative Perspective, St. John's University Paris Campus, June 2010.
"Competing Discourses: Immigrant Integration, Multilingualism, and Education Policy in the United States and Europe," Law and Society Meeting, Chicago, May 2010.
"Language Matters: What the Law Tells Us About Sameness and Difference," National Conference on Single-Sex Public Schools, Philadelphia, October 2008
"The NCLB, English Language Learners, and High-Stakes Testing," Northeast People of Color Conference, Boston University, September 2008
"Lost in Translation: Language Identity, and the Right to a 'Meaningful' Education," Law and Society Meeting, Montreal, Canada, May 2008
"Language, Schooling, and National Identity: The Implications of Transnationalism, Globalization, and Mass Migration," Law and Society Meeting, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, July 2007
"Transnational Schooling and the New Immigrants: Can Europe Learn from the United States?" IMISCOE Cluster B5 Meeting on Immigrant Access to Education: A Comparative Perspective, University of Lisbon, Portugal, April 2007
"Single-Sex Schooling: Charting a Middle Ground in a Contentious Debate," Convegno, Meglio Insieme? Maschile e Femminile a Scuola: Cantiere Aperto d'Identità, Verona, Italy, October 2006
"Language Rights and Schooling in the Age of Transnationalism," Language Law and Language Rigths Conference, International Academy of Linguistic Law and University of Northern Ireland, Galway, June 2006