Sixty-one years ago, the United States Supreme Court removed Jim Crow from the front of the classroom in Brown v. Board of Education. A year later, in 1955, the Supreme Court again ruled in Brown v. Board of Education II that states and local governments needed to move with “all deliberate speed” to implement the Brown I ruling and open the doors of opportunity to millions of students.
To discuss the successes and challenges in the 60 years following the Brown II decision, AEI hosted a one-day conference yesterday, titled “With all deliberate speed: Brown v. Board of Education II 60 years later.” The event gathered a diverse group of researchers, advocates, practitioners, and entrepreneurs to address the critical question: where do we go from here?
This is the question central to our discussions revolving around opportunity, race, and education in 2015. Yesterday’s event featured three distinct panels that addressed how we can live up to the legacy of Brown. The first panel covered the courts and schools, the second addressed the changing demographics in our public education system, and the third featured a conversation on innovation as the path forward to serving the students the Brown decision was meant to help.
In a packed room at AEI, the conversation was both lively and respectful for a topic that elicits strong opinions and policy recommendations. There are three points that especially stuck out to us:
1)Integration does not mean equality. As panelist Stephanie Monroe, assistant secretary for civil rights during the George W. Bush administration, mentioned in the first panel, Brown’s landmark decision was so important because it showed that separate schools were, in fact, “inherently unequal.” But, she went on to ask, “Does it therefore follow that the reverse is true—that integrated schools are inherently equal?” Simply issuing a mandate that desegregating schools will improve achievement and reduce poverty is “magic,” according to Monroe.
Several of the problems facing schools in 1955 are still alive in our schools today. Policymakers need to be mindful that a mix of solutions and approaches are necessary for providing a quality education for every student.
2)School choice is no panacea, but it can help create thriving communities. Throughout the day, several panelists stressed the link between housing policy and educational opportunity. But perhaps the most convincing argument came from Dr. Bart Danielsen, a professor at NC State University. Danielsen has long studied housing policies and real estate development, but his research has recently focused on how school choice policies affect communities. In his insightful paper on the relocation of 662 families whose child attended a charter school in Wake County, North Carolina, Danielsen found that parents preferred living near the school, even though they did not have to.
His study suggests that charter schools have the power to bring individuals into communities that desperately need quality educational options and opportunities for work. Whether school integration or improving education is the primary goal, Danielsen’s research shows that charters can do both.
3)Failure is not an option. Finally, Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (INACOL), highlighted how new technology platforms, online learning, and course choice can allow educators to track student progress and ensure that every child is able to access a high-quality education. Empowering educators with data means that allowing students to fall behind year after year should not be an acceptable option in our education system.
African American children weren’t the only ones who benefited from the Brown decision—the ruling helped all students, as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) president Tom Saenz and Kara Bobroff, founding principal of the Native American Community Academy in New Mexico, also highlighted in their presentations.
The legacy of Brown is an integral part of American education. How all students are performing, the opportunities they are afforded, and the resources available at their fingertips represent the successes, and challenges, of moving the spirit of Brown forward.
Today, we should remember that addressing opportunity and poverty is crucial to creating the free, prosperous, and just nation the Brown plaintiffs sought for their children.
For video of the conference “With all deliberate speed: Brown v. Board of Education II 60 years later,” please watch below, or access it on Youtube.
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