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Plessy v. Ferguson
The United States Supreme Court upheld state racial segregation laws for public facilities under the old Jim Crow laws that described the "separate but equal" doctrine. Separate accommodations were made for whites and blacks including segregated public schools. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
The United States Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional and found that segregation of public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause because it was psychologically harmful to black students. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the United States. It prohibited unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations. -
Green v. County School Board of New Kent County
The United States Supreme Court held that New Kent County's freedom of choice plan did not show adequate compliance with the school board's responsibility to generate a system of admission to public schools on a non-racial basis. The Supreme Court mandated that the school board must formulate new plans and steps towards changing to a desegregated system. -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg board of Education
The United States Supreme Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for racial imbalance in schools to ensure schools would be "properly" integrated and that all students would receive equal educational opportunities regardless of their race. -
Lau v. Nichols
The United States Supreme Court declared that lack of supplemental language instruction for students with limited English proficiency violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The school district was demanded to provide non-English speaking students "appropriate relief". -
Plyler v. Doe
The United States Supreme Court opposed a state statute denying funding for education to illegal immigrant children and simultaneously stopped a municipal school district's attempt to charge illegal immigrants an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each illegal alien student to compensate for the lost state funding. -
Sheff v. O'Neill
Sheff v. O'Neill refers to a 1989 lawsuit in which a Connecticut Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the State in the case. The judge's decision rejected claims that educational officials are obligated to correct educational inequities. Moreover, he ruled that without proof that government action helped promote racial isolation, courts cannot require steps that would change the composition of the city and suburban school enrollments. -
Sheff v. O'Neill (Connecticut Supreme Court)
The previous decision was appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court and overturned. The court ruled that the state had an affirmative obligation to provide Connecticut's school children with a substantially equal educational opportunity and that this constitutionally guaranteed right includes the access to a public education which is not impaired by racial and ethnic isolation.
