Compulsory Education Case Summary

The Supreme Court is perhaps most well known for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. By declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney says a ‘direct reversal of the Plessy … ruling’1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy which gave southern

Plessy v. Ferguson , a very important case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the ruling, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants, and other public facilities in the American South. In the Plessy decision, the Supreme Court ruled that such segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This amendment provides equal protection of the law to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The court ruled in Plessy that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities for blacks and whites were “equal.”

The Ordinances of 1785 and 1787 provide land grants to states for the maintenance of public schools. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, supply funds for compensatory education programs for economically disadvantaged students attending public and non-profit private schools. The No Child Left Behind Act, requires states to implement accountability systems with higher performance standards in reading, mathematics, and science. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 barred sex discrimination against participants in education

The U.S is known for its liberty and equality. However, the Supreme Court once had to decide on the rights for African Americans. Since the abolishment of slavery, one court case before the Supreme Court sided against the African American plaintiff fighting for equal rights. In this case the plaintiff, Homer Plessy was arguing his right to ride in a "white only" train car. Unfortunately, he lost his case in Plessy vs Ferguson. Decades later, another plaintiff, Oliver Brown, also took a case before the Supreme Court. Conversely, in this case, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff in Brown vs Board of Education. This decision began the integration of schools. Despite the fact that these two cases took place almost 60 years apart, they both dealt with a similar issue.

The Plessy decision legalized segregation. It was okay to be separate, but only if it was equal.

After the Civil War, following the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction, the protection for the rights of African American ended if there was any. Southern States had moved to impose a system of segregation on nearly all areas of life. New laws that required segregation that stirred “separate but equal” doctrine that disenfranchise African Americans for almost six decades. It is hard in this days and age to be able to imagine segregation as a law, but the remnants just change form and name. A petition file on June 7, 1892, in the supreme court Louisiana by a local shoemaker named Homer Plessy against Honorable judge John H. Ferguson. His filling set a test case to challenge Separate Car Act that prompt Plessy v. Ferguson case perhaps one of the most noticeable actions to nullify “separate but equal” doctrine.

In this landmark case, the Supreme Court found that segregated schools for black and white students wee unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v Ferguson case which championed the “separate but equal” doctrine. The Supreme Court saw that the implication from the previous case conflicted with the ideals of the 14th amendment. Although the doctrine came from another court ruling rather than a legislative source, it is a prime example of how judicial review is a necessary power to secure fundamental

The Brown case decision could not have happened prior to 1954 if these cases had not set a precedent for violations of the Fourteenth Amendment under the “equal protection” clause. In the case Plessy v. Fergguson (163 U.S. 537(1896)), this case was responsible for the “separate but equal” doctrine, where segregation began. In the case, Sweatt v. Painter (339 U.S. 629), African American law students fought for an equal opportunity education.

In the 1851 Massachusetts compulsory education law, it stated that “the children must be gathered up and forced into school.” It required every child, immigrant or native, to attend school. In addition, it required every city and town to offer primary school focusing on grammar and basic arithmetic. Also, it hoped to discourage factory owners from exploiting child labor. The following year, Massachusetts passed the attendance law, which further enforced its law that children must attend school.

Plessy V. John H. Ferguson dealing with the separation of black and white residents. In 1980 the state of Louisiana passed a law called “ The Separate Car Act” which mandated separate public accommodations for black and whites on railroads. On July 7, 1982 a man named Homer Plessy purchased a railroad ticket and boarded the “whites-only” section of the railroad. Plessy was immediately told to flee the “whites-only” area and enter “black-only” area. Plessy refused and was arrested for violating the Separate Car Act. Interesting enough, Homer Plessy was 7/8th European descent and 1/8th African descent but was considered black. Plessy was then placed into trial in which his lawyers argued the state denied him his rights under the fourteenth amendment which provided equal treatment under the law. Plessy lost every court in Louisiana before appealing to the Supreme Court. In a 7-1 decision, the court decided as long as facilities are equal, their separation satisfied the fourteenth amendment “Separate But Equal”. This was a huge milestone for black citizens in the United States although they later realized it didn’t seem as nice as it did on paper. This was was later overturned by Oliver Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al in the year 1965 and was mandated unconstitutional for the reason that black facilities weren’t equal compared to white

The Plessey ruling truly embodied the overarching racial attitudes of the Southern United States in the Post-Reconstruction era. With the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments slavery had been abolished and Constitutional precedents were established that would seemingly pave the way for Americans of all races to begin to achieve equality. It is stated in the 14th that all citizens shall not have their basic civil rights infringed upon without due process of the law, and it is also stated that all citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law. At first view, such measures should have eliminated official racist practices, yet racism prevalent throughout the United States and blacks were still considered to be inferior to whites. Many Americans, especially in the South, sought to continue current racist practices. Yet state segregation laws and other official racist practices needed a strong legal backing, and the Plessey decision provided exactly that. By establishing that segregation would be allowed if conditions were “separate but equal” whites throughout the country were given the precedent they needed to ensure blacks remained inferior. Although the decision claims that “equality”

The act was the second of two education laws that Massachusetts made. It was the beginnings of mandatory public education. The act required towns in each colony to make, operate, and provide funding for schools.

Brown v Board of Education (Brown) (1954) marked a historic victory for civil rights in the United States. Chief Justice Warren declared the “Separate but Equal” doctrine unconstitutional, thereby moving the nation one step closer to a more integrated society. However, despite Brown’s monumental win for racial equality, it is undoubtedly obvious that the Court overstepped its boundaries in trying to push for progress. In Brown, the Court was unjustified in its actions to overrule Plessy v Ferguson (Plessy) (1896) and violated its constitutional limit in order to promote racial integration in public education.

As schools began segregating, the Supreme Court had to make sure that a school system didn’t admit a small few and then deny access to a

The 1870 Education Act, universally recognized as Foster’s Education Act, set the structure of schooling for all children aged between 5 and 13 years old (Politics, 2014). Gillard (2011) mentioned that the 1870 Education Act which ‘established school boards to oversee and complete the network of schools and bring them all under some form of provision’ was drafted by Liberal MP, William Forster, and it was introduced on 9 August 1870. 1870 Education Act is the start of obligatory state education (Shaw, 2011).