Education

Schools may not be segregated. In 1954, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation violated the constitutional rights of minority students. The holding applies to faculty and staff as well as the student body. States and school districts that refused to comply with Brown were ordered to implement integration by federal district courts. Forced integration, in the form of busing, is still in effect today in some places.

Brown does not apply to private educational institutions, which may admit or deny admission to students on the basis or race, ethnicity or religion. However, schools receiving any public funding or operating as part of a public agency must follow the law as set out in Brown.

Can a school refuse public funding to avoid the Brown holding?

Yes. No school is required to accept public funds.

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We would also like to set some optional cookies. We won't set these optional cookies unless you enable them. Please choose whether this site may use optional cookies by selecting 'On' or 'Off' for each category below. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie notice.

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functionality cookies

We'd like to set cookies to provide you with a better customer experience. For more information on these cookies, please see our cookie notice.