In spite of the euphoria of the "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" decision outlawing segregation, Black leaders and presidents of the member colleges of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) understood that this critical point in history brought both opportunities and challenges to Black higher education. The "Brown" decision…

Summarizes and analyzes constitutional doctrine dealing with school desegregation and reviews whether the courts have kept school desegregation law clear and understandable. (Author/JM)

Discusses legal factors making desegregation an issue for community colleges--especially in southern and border states. Focuses on high minority enrollments in metropolitan areas; compliance of states with requests for desegregation plans; the Shelby State Community College case; the influence of governance structures; racial isolation; and dual…

Discusses the history of the Washington public school system from pre-1945 to the present to show how its problems have evolved. Discusses why the system's bad image developed and why it has been so slow to change. Student achievement and segregation are discussed extensively. (JS)

Ng suggests that a funding scheme that is dramatically unequal in direct spending can still be fair, but his measure of fairness, net subsidy, flies in the face of all government public-good spending practices. Politicians trying to avoid the issue of unequal funding should not take comfort from Ng's analysis. (SLD)

It's a little-known fact, but, 50 years ago, the junior high and high schools of Topeka, Kan., were integrated--though in name only. Fear was the order of the day at the high school, where an African American assistant superintendent by the name of Harrison Caldwell roamed the halls as the "White folks' enforcer," ensuring that African…

Schooling and the state of student achievement will receive intense scrutiny this year during the observance of the 50th anniversary of "Brown v. Board of Education" (2004). In "Brown" the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the "separate but equal" doctrine that had been established under "Plessy v. Ferguson" (1896) and the legal foundation under which…

If one was an African-American student in a large Northern city 50 years ago, his public school, very likely, would have been segregated--even in New England. Only one year earlier, in "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that legally sanctioned school segregation violated the 14th Amendment…

When it comes to high school proms, one size may not fit all. In this article, the author presents different alternative proms that provide safe havens or to accommodate different student interests. Some groups are providing alternative proms for students based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. However, several…

The significance of segregation-era African American schoolhouses and the efforts of community groups engaged in their preservation are explained. The community groups which are involved in preservation activities are motivated by desires to honor the strivings of their forbearers and preserve their own history for future generations, to inspire…

This overview notes that moral education permeates all school curriculum, especially social studies and religion, since South African law mandates that education for Whites have a Christian character. The code of conduct for White teachers is quoted. Different provisions for Blacks are described and segregated schooling discussed in this context.…

Addresses school segregation and Mexican Americans, delineating the institutional nature of segregation "for the cause of Americanization." Discusses "Alvarez v. Lemon Grove School District" and "Mendez v. Westminster," two important legal challenges by Mexican American parents on behalf of their children. Includes a bibliography. (CMK)

Contests the State of Texas argument in the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) case that historical discrimination against African Americans and Mexican Americans is unrelated to their TAAS outcomes. Examines contemporary de facto school segregation, distribution of substandard teachers, and the relationship of these factors to student…

This essay describes significant legal and policy system changes in America's 50-year crusade to curtail or eliminate racially segregated public school. In hindsight, a more forceful initial policy system stance regarding judicial enforcement might well have resulted in greater desegregation success. However, after 5 decades of judicial and…

The Monroe School was one of the four segregated grade schools where the Topeka board of education assigned black schoolchildren. The building had been through many permutations since it closed in 1975. Its long-term future was a question mark, but the Brown Foundation will embark on a mission to preserve a local and national historic site. The…