A study of selected non-pending, Supreme Court cases held between 1965-2000 on K-12 public, intradistrict, race-based, dual systems of education

Author

LaRonda J. Conley-Townsend

Date of Award

12-2001

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Olga Welch

Committee Members

Joy DeSensi, Jaqueline DeJonge, George Harris, Jr.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the Supreme Court's rulings between 1965 and 2000 focusing on the legality of intradistrict, race-based, dual systems of education. The study applied the theory of Equal Protection as a rationale for the actions and determinations of the Court made in the kindergarten-twelfth grade public school segregation cases during this period. This theory was chosen because the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was used to prohibit the operation of segregated systems (Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, 1954) which were held to be detrimental to minority students. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 furthered efforts to dismantle racial segregation in schools by refusing federal funds to systems that practiced racial discrimination. From an analysis of the fifty-eight cases, two cases emerged for further study, Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman, 443 U.S. 526 (1979) and Columbus Board of Education v. Penick, 443 U.S. 449 (1979). Data from these cases were used to answer the research questions: 1) In making its decisions, what judicial guidelines did the Supreme Court establish, if any, for determining whether a dual system of education existed? 2) What judicial guidelines, if any, were established to distinguish between illegal and legal dual systems? 3) If judicial guidelines were established to delineate between illegal and legal dual systems, were the differences related to the system practicing de jure or de facto segregation?, and 4) What has the Supreme Court decided about the legality of two schools, with racially diverse dominant populations existing within the same district in the public school system? The study's findings suggested that no guidelines were established for use in future rulings, a) to determine whether a dual system existed; b) establish a definition of illegal vs. legal dual systems; or c) to assert a connection between de jure and de facto segregation as each relates to dual systems. Yet in the two cases studied, the Supreme Court, decided that dual systems existed and that the systems were illegal. These rulings support the existence of dual systems after 1965 in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, as might have been expected, they did not establish guidelines or precedents for future cases, particularly those involving intradistrict, race-based, dual systems in kindergarten through twelfth grade education. The lack of these guidelines also has implications for future litigation involving intradistrict segregation. Moreover, the lack of guidelines suggests a need for future studies on the impact of, for example, district transfers and school voucher programs on efforts to end the practice of de jure and de facto segregation in public school systems.