School districts must not only be knowledgeable about the historical context of school desegregation, but also what current efforts are occurring across the U.S. to combat school segregation as they may help guide them in leveraging policy in their own school communities' school integration endeavors. Thus, the purpose of this "Equity by…

This article discusses the due process clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and their application in legal cases related to K-12 and higher education. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments are important because, among many things, they declare that before any person can be accused of any crime or wrongdoing, he or she must be allowed due…

The 2007 "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1". Supreme Court 5:4 decision suggests that the Court is divided in its interpretation of "Brown" and its intent in addressing racial segregation. Although "Brown" intended equal educational opportunities through desegregation practices,…

Recent reports on discrimination in private schools have led some observers to decry the fact that private and charter schools receiving public tax dollars selectively exclude some populations from both employment and enrollment; others, however, note that in these and similar instances the schools have broken no laws. Both may be right. How can…

The federal government's role in PreK-12 education has long been contentious and continues to evolve. Many have written about education governance, but few have attempted to define an appropriate role for the federal government. That is the core purpose of this essay. The authors articulate a set of principles to guide the federal role in…

This article explains the court decision on the "Brown v. Board of Education" lawsuit. In this case, there are findings that the Negro and white schools involved have been equalized, or are being equalized, with respect to buildings, curricula, qualifications and salaries of teachers, and other "tangible" factors. The Court…

One of the conclusions of this article is that the major source of resistance to desegregation and the correction of the 14th Amendment abuses has been from that segment of the majority community which is faced with losing some of its special (maldistributed) resources. (Author)

Finishing the business of school desegregation requires extending efforts beyond the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to design strategies that are not dependent on the courts nor on the good will of white America. Ways to promote more equitable schools are suggested. (SLD)

The Supreme Court's opinion in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case legally ended decades of racial segregation in America's public schools. Originally named after Oliver Brown, the first of many plaintiffs listed in the lower court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS, the landmark decision actually resolved five separate…

The school segregation cases, generally cited as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) were first argued in the Supreme Court of the United States in December, 1952. On June 8, 1953, six months after the first arguments and nearly a year prior to the decision, the Supreme Court ordered that the cases be re-argued in the…

The 50th anniversary of the historic 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" provides an opportunity to trace the origin of "Brown" and the long journey by African Americans to achieve quality elementary and secondary education in this country. This journey began with passage of the Fourteenth…

On May 17, 2004, the United States will observe the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. By invalidating the doctrine of "separate but equal" in the field of public education, a doctrine that had been approved by the same court nearly sixty years earlier in Plessy…

Recommends studying Fannie Lou Hamer's work in the civil rights movement of the 1960s to teach students a greater appreciation of the citizen's role in enforcing constitutional rights. Includes a role-playing activity, discussion questions, and a handout on Hamer. Suggests students will recognize the relationship between the Fourteenth Amendment…

Presents a lesson tracing the legal evolution toward greater justice in U.S. society from 1865-1965 through congressional acts and Supreme Court decisions. Includes student handouts of major civil rights cases, legislation, and background information. Provides a bar graph for evaluating Supreme Court decisions and congressional acts that advance…