For over a century after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, researchers have been grappling with how to effectively implement educational reform policies to provide students with an equal education in American schools. This literature review examines previous school desegregation cases and school desegregation plans to investigate how schools have been unsuccessful in fully implementing desegregation plans. The paper discusses the role that social and political factors played in prohibiting schools from fully desegregating in the South. It ends with some suggestions on moving from equal to equitable schooling inside and outside of the Southern region of the United States.
The U.S. District of Columbia’s Federal Circuit Court decision in Hobson v. Hanson (1967) case eliminated racial discriminatory tracking practices in the nation’s capitol’s public schools. The court ruled that D.C. Public Schools’ tracking violated African American and low income students’ rights to equal opportunities to education under the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment. While D.C. Public Schools eradicated school tracking, it continued in other urban schools. This article examines the Federal Court’s role in the perpetuation of school tracking practices and challenges minority students’ access to equal educational opportunities in schools with tracked classrooms. It also addresses the need for equitable schools to provide all students with the opportunity to learn.
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