Views concerning the influence of the 1954 Supreme Court decision in "Brown versus the Board of Education" which ended school segregation are discussed. Historian Raymond Wolters believes that while segregation was wrong and the Supreme Court's unanimous decision reversing the "separate but equal" interpretation was right, the Court erred in calling for more state action to correct state error. For example, the Supreme Court in "Green versus New Kent County" (1968) required statistical evidence of integration. Because urban whites found this social engineering and judicial reconstruction distasteful and retreated to suburbs and private schools, public education and blacks suffered. According to Wolters, reform belongs to elected representatives, not to unelected judges. On the positive side, however, the Brown decision did force the South to desegregate and gave impetus to the far-reaching civil rights movement. However, since about 1974, during which time economic retrenchment and conservative renewal have prevailed, these positive elements have lost support. Today, 30 years after Brown, we see federal disinvestment in public schooling, retreat from equality, and return to pre-Brown "separate but equal" programs and facilities. (RM)