Brown+vs.+Board+of+education

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued it's pivotal ruling in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. This landmark ruling nullified the 1896 decision in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case which created the "Separate but Equal" clause as it relates to access to public education (Wraga, 2006, p. 425). This ruling, credited for desegregating public schools has consistently been referred to in recent research. Scholars continue to reflect back on the ruling in an effort to measure this country's progress towards ending racism in public education. Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education, while critical in it's interpretation, is often times misunderstood. While the ruling did force great progress in the debate over equal access to public schools for African American students, the core of the ruling guaranteed equal access for all. What the United States Supreme Court did was essentially establish parameters for what would be thereby understood as the fundamental ideals and necessities of public education for all students (p. 425).

Wraga, William G. (2006). The Heightened Significance of Brown v. Board of Education In Our Time Finding balance: Assessment in the middle school classroom. Phi Phi Delta Kappan, v. 87 no. 6, p. 424-8