Examination of the social contexts and circumstances leading to the Brown versus Board of Education decision (1954) and subsequent events reveals that in spite of the promises of school desegregation, repressed learning opportunities continue for African American children. Changes brought by desegregation have been too fragmented and isolated.…

Title I, concerned with providing equal learning opportunities for disadvantaged students, is the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act's centerpiece and has been institutionalized in U.S. schools. Recent reauthorizations have allowed local districts and schools to determine which type of program will best serve students' needs. (18…

The question at the heart of this reflection on the Brown v. Board of Education decision is one proposed by the author's former professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, William Watkins. He asked graduate students to keep their attention on "Who's got the biscuits?" And, by extension, to remember to ask, "Who's getting the…

In the fall of 1953, the Supreme Court of the United States received the case of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" (347 U.S. 483, 1954) that raised essential questions, including whether separate but "equal" facilities in education can be provided for black students in the United States or whether the consideration of…

On May 17, 2004, our nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of a landmark decision, Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This U.S. Supreme Court decision was an impressive unanimous vote. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of "Plessy v Ferguson" that the Court had…

Fifty years ago the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board, declaring education to be the foundation of good citizenship and preparation for occupational success, rejected the doctrine of "separate but equal" as applied to schools. The Court extended the American ideal of common education for common citizenship to black school children.…