In 1954, the Supreme Court delivered the landmark decision of "Brown v. Board of Education"--establishing the right to attend a desegregated school as a national constitutional right--but the decision contained fundamental ambiguities. The Supreme Court has never offered a clear definition of what desegregation means or laid out a…

Ten years ago, the United States Supreme Court struck down two local school board initiatives meant to reverse extreme racial segregation in public schools. The sharply divided 5-4 decision in "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District" marked the end of an era of efforts by local authorities to fulfill the promise…

"Resisting Divide-and-Conquer Strategies in Education: Pathways and Possibilities" examines the ways in which divide-and-conquer strategies operate in the American public education system. In U.S. education, these mechanisms are endemic and enduring, if not always evident. Coordinated, strategic, well-funded, politically-viable campaigns…

The 2014-2015 academic year marked the first year that American, preK-12 public school enrollment became majority nonwhite, with Hispanic/Latino as the largest minority. Population shifts have continued to occur, with Latinos now representing 28% of public school students. American public schools are in trouble, with national achievement reaching…

In "Badges and Incidents," Michael J. Kaufman undertakes an interdisciplinary investigation of American education law and pedagogy. By weaving together the invaluable insights of law, education, history, political science, economics, psychology, and neuroscience, this book illuminates the ways in which the design of the American…

Disparities in educational attainment among population groups have characterized the United States throughout its history. Education is sometimes characterized as the "great equalizer," but to date, the country has not found ways to successfully address the adverse effects of socioeconomic circumstances, prejudice, and discrimination…

Even though transportation of school children was long accepted by the public prior to the conflict over school integration, the school bus became a symbol representing the divergent emotions of both the integrationists and the supporters of "neighborhood schools." Busing was used as a means of overcoming the resistance and procrastination of…

The effectiveness and deficiencies of judicial intervention in solving the problems of discrimination in the nation's schools are examined in this book. Case studies, surveys, and interviews with lawyers and judges involved in the leading cases are presented in nine chapters by nine contributors, each of whom is a recognized authority in…

On June 26, 1976, the California State Supreme Court affirmed a 1970 lower court decision that the Los Angeles City Unified School District was segregated and school desegregation was ordered. The Supreme Court decision was of great importance to the large population of black residents in the district. However, unlike other desegregation efforts,…

The literature on affirmative action and preferential admissions in higher education from 1970 to the present is reviewed in this annotated bibliography. The three parts focus on: (1) The Law and the Courts; (2) The Academic Community Response; and (3) The Philosophical Debate. Each section is preceded by an extensive introduction that analyzes…

A conference on the courts, social science, and school desegregation attempted to clarify how social science research has been used and possibly misused in school desegregation litigation. The symposium issue addressed in this book is a product of that conference. First, the judicial evolution of the law of school desegregation from Brown V. the…

This chapter, which reports on decisions made by federal and state courts in 1983 concerning the treatment of pupils, notes that for the first time in five years the number of such cases did not increase. Important decisions were handed down regarding student expression and concerning the payment of fees and damages in litigation affecting the…

The author strongly criticizes busing, the compulsory transportation of school children out of their neighborhoods to increase school racial balance. He reviews all the major court decisions bearing on busing and school integration since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. He maintains that the Supreme Court stepped out of the…

To understand the controversy over busing, it is necessary to understand the relationship between busing and the issues that are actually at the root of the controversy: desegregation and freedom of choice. Much of the political activity surrounding busing is a subtle transfer of attention away from the basic issue of desegregation. Other…

This chapter reviews 1982 cases involving pupils. Such cases increased one-third in 1982, with much of the increase attributable to litigation concerning the rights of handicapped students. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case defining the congressional mandate of an "appropriate education" for such students may help reduce the controversy in…