Do social policy intellectuals and their research help to strengthen quality education? Was the 1954 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, which relied heavily on social science research, flawed in its reasoning on school desegregation, equal educational opportunity, and quality education for African Americans? Both questions deserve answers in the affirmative. The Supreme Court's 1954 Brown ruling was correct; however, the subsequent decision to overemphasize racial integration and underemphasize quality education was a mistake of enormous proportions. Educational policy experts, as members of an evolving professional-managerial elite, used their knowledge to contribute significantly to policies such as busing for racial balance and magnet programs, but these programs are not enough. These experts who contribute to the formulation and implementation of policies do not have all the answers to complex educational problems. Policy intellectuals will continue to influence educational policy making, but the role of expertise must be clarified and refined in light of its limitations. Past mistakes in educational policy with respect to quality education have resulted in several generations of African-American and Hispanic-American youth who were trapped in these desegregated but inferior schools and who will be left behind in this managerial society. Quality education must be reinstated in all American schools if the United States is to remain foremost among advanced techological nations. (JS)