For Immediate Release Contact: Theresa Caldwell

Thursday, May 15, 2003 202-225-0773

**Education: Separate and Unequal in the 21^st^ Century**

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. released the following statement today
marking the 49^th^ Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 *Brown
v. Board of Education* decision:

"On May 17^th^, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued the *Brown
v. Board of Education* decision. Brown crushed the notion of 'separate
but equal,' ending apartheid in America. Unfortunately, the 21^st^
Century description of the nation's public education system could be
described as 'separate and unequal.' We most certainly have not
fulfilled the promise of Brown 'with all deliberate speed.'

"Public schools in 50 states and 3,067 counties across the United States
experience huge discrepancies in the amount of money spent, and the
quality of instruction available. Many schools often have vast resources
and specialty programs, while other students---within the same
state---attend dilapidated schools with little more than the basics.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, planned education
spending over the next 10 years will hardly be sufficient to repair and
modernize existing buildings, which does not include the costs of
reducing class sizes, increasing teachers' pay, improving curricula, or
reintroducing artistic and extra-curricular activities.

"Small federal budgets and a lack of political will in Congress have
largely abandoned public education to local control and the hazards of
states' rights ideology. In 2000 the nation spent only six hundred
billion dollars on education at all levels, of which the federal
commitment from the Department of Education was a mere six percent. Real
estate taxes provide the bulk of local school endowments, which creates
a disparity in funding between the richest and poorest states and
communities. With state and local governments contributing the majority
of public school funding, it is almost impossible to provide equal
educational opportunity to all American school children. This
locally-oriented educational system has dramatically shaped the history
of public education for the last hundred years.

"The infamous *Plessy v. Ferguson* decision in 1896 upheld an 1890
Louisiana law requiring railroads to provide 'equal but separate
accommodations for the white and colored races.' This decision formed
the legal underpinning for racially segregated schools in the South, and
the 'separate but equal' interpretation of the Constitution. The
Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 and the Serviceman's Readjustment Act, known as
the G.I. Bill, in 1944 were major boosts in federal aid to schools.

"The watershed *Brown* decision overturned the "separate but equal"
legal principle of *Plessy* and replaced it with "equal protection under
the law." It also dealt a major shock to Jim Crow segregation in the
South and paved the way for the Civil Rights legislation and new
education initiatives in the 1960s.

"Anti-busing presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1972, and even high
court decisions on affirmative action programs at state universities
over the last 30 years, have failed to produce a system that is truly
reflective of our nation's educational values and vision. History shows
that the political principles of local control and volunteerism, in
which states and localities voluntarily collaborate with the federal
government, rule the day. We deserve better.

"I have introduced legislation adding an amendment to the Constitution
affirming our national commitment to public education of equal high
quality for all Americans. An education amendment is vital to address
the inequities that exist in our schools. During next year's
presidential race, *Brown* will reach its half-century mark. Many
candidates will visit schools. Let us not become so caught up in
traditional political style that we forget that our children remain
desperately in need of educational substance, and they should not need
to wait another half-century."

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