Equal Education In Brown V. Board Of Education

In Brown v. Board of Education, the court found that the separate but equal doctrine under Plessy v. Ferguson had no place in public education. The ruling stated that the separate but equal doctrine violated the privileges granted to citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment by infringing on their right to an equal education. The court found that “separate educational facilities were inherently unequal,” (2) since they did not provide the same experiences or opportunities to all students. The court held that “The Fourteenth Amendment is inconclusive as to its intended effect on public education,” (4). Thus, the cases presented “must be determined, not on the basis of conditions existing when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, but in the light of the full development of public education and its present place in American life,” (4). By viewing the Fourteenth Amendment as such, the court interpreted it as protecting student’s rights to an equal education. Under this interpretation, the previous idea of ‘inherently equal’ no longer applied.
Due to this, the court found that, “segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives the children of the minority group [usually those in the lesser school] of equal educational opportunities,” (4). These opportunities included the privilege to “study, engage in discussions and exchange views with other students, and, in general, to learn [their] profession,” (9). Without conflicting viewpoints from groups who held varying background and social experiences, children in both schools could not gain a thorough view of modern life. This hindered their general education, especially in classroom