Timeline: How equity has informed educational policy

 

Mendez vs. Westminster School District of Orange County. (1946) is a landmark case in the history of racial segregation in California public schools. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that forcing Mexican American pupils to be separated based on their ethnicity, skin color, or the Spanish language was unconstitutional and illegal. This case laid the groundwork for upholding the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, bolstering the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Brown vs Board (1954) Oliver Brown and other plaintiffs were denied admittance to a public school where white students were the majority. This was made possible by rules that allowed for racial segregation. Brown alleged that segregation violated the 14th Amendment by denying minority children equal protection. Brown filed a class-action lawsuit against the Board of Education in a federal district court in Kansas, bringing together cases from Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware, and Kansas.

The "Little Rock Nine," (September 1957) the nine teenagers, were the first African American teens to enroll in Little Rock's Central High School. Following the Supreme Court ruling three years prior, the Little Rock school board vowed to desegregate its schools voluntarily. This concept was explosive in the community, and it was loaded with rage and animosity, as it was throughout much of the South.

The Civil Rights Act of (1964) is a historic civil right and labor law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and eventually sexual orientation and gender identity. Its outlaws’ discrimination in the application of voter registration procedures, as well as racial segregation in schools and other places.

Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) New Kent County's freedom of choice plan did not fully comply with the school board's responsibilities to design a non-racial admission mechanism to public schools, according to the Court. The school board was ordered by the Supreme Court to develop fresh plans and procedures for a realistic conversion to a desegregated system.

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, (1971) was a significant US Supreme Court decision involving the busing of children in public schools to encourage integration. The Court found that busing was a permissible solution for racial imbalance in schools, even where the imbalance was caused by pupils being assigned to classes based on their geographic proximity to the school rather than on race. This was done to ensure that the schools were "properly" integrated and that all children, regardless of ethnicity, had equal educational opportunities.

Title IX (1972) is a federal civil rights law that was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 in the United States of America. Its outlaws’ sex-based discrimination in any federally funded school or educational program.

Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver (1973), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that de facto segregation had damaged a significant portion of the school system and was thus a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. In Denver, Colorado, the entire district must be desegregated. Due to racial segregation, black and Hispanic parents sued all Denver schools in this lawsuit.

Lau vs. Nichols (1974) The Supreme Court unanimously concluded in Lau v. Nichols that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was violated by the lack of supplemental language training in public schools for students with limited English proficiency. The court ruled that because non-English speakers were denied a meaningful education, the school policy's disparate impact violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the school system was ordered to offer "appropriate redress" to the kids.

Missouri v. Jenkins, (1995) The Supreme Court of the United States has decided on a case. A District Court order requiring the state of Missouri to address intentional racial discrimination in Kansas City schools by paying wage raises and remedial education programs was rejected by the Court on June 12, 1995, in a 5-4 decision.