CSBA Commemorates 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education by Sponsoring ACR 140
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California School Boards Association (CSBA) today sponsored a resolution in the state Assembly honoring the 60th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education case. Assembly Member Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), a former school board member in the San Diego Unified School District, authored
ACR 140 and the Legislature voted unanimously to approve it.
The May 17, 1954 decision struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine in American public schools. Thurgood Marshall, lead attorney for the plaintiffs and later the nation’s first African-American Supreme Court justice, successfully argued that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal and thus violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“CSBA is honored to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision as it represented the notion that education could be the ‘great equalizer,’ providing a level playing field for all students no matter their race or socio-economic background,” said CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy. “The decision declared that public education is the foundation of good citizenship and the principal instrument that prepares children for success in life and work, making access to good schools ‘a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.’ We must honor this anniversary and commit ourselves to ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity to learn in a resource rich school environment that doesn’t discriminate and uplifts students to be our future leaders.”
Read more about the 60th anniversary in an
Op-Ed by Billy, the
Spring issue of
California Schools magazine, a CSBA
Governance Brief: Brown v. Board of Education, and the
May issue of
California School News.
About CSBA
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) is the non-profit education association representing the elected officials who govern public school districts and county offices of education. With a membership of nearly 1,000 educational agencies statewide, CSBA brings together school district governing boards and county boards of education to advocate for effective policies that advance the education and well-being of the state’s more than 6 million school-age children. CSBA provides policy resources and training to members, and represents the statewide interests of public education through legal, political legislative, community and media advocacy.
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