1961 US Commission on Civil Rights Report Book 2 - University of ...

pan iv. Education
1. Introduction
Our progress as a Nation can be no swifter than our progress in
education. Our requirements for world leadership, our hopes
for economic growth, and the demands of citizenship itself in an
era such as this all require the maximum development of every
young American's capacity. The human mind is our fundamental
resource.
President JOHN F. KENNEDY.
The Supreme Court pointed out in Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, 1 or the School Segregation Cases, that education is perhaps
the most important modern function of State and local government.
"In these days," the Court said, "it is doubtful that any child may
reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity
of an education." 2 But, like all governmental functions, this one must
be carried out in conformity with the Constitution which requires that
education provided by State and local governments be available to all
persons on equal terms.
The heavy cost of discrimination in the schools, both to those denied
equal opportunity and to the Nation as a whole, led the <strong>Commission</strong>
in the Spring of 1958 to include public education in its studies. This
decision rests on the authortity granted by the Civil Rights Act of 1957
which directs the <strong>Commission</strong> to "study and collect information concerning
legal developments constituting a denial of equal protection
of the laws under the Constitution," and to "appraise the laws and
policies of the Federal Government with respect to equal protection
of the laws under the Constitution." 3
The <strong>Commission</strong> has issued two previous reports on the denial of
constitutional rights in the field of education. The first, a part of the
Z 959 Report, dealt with public elementary and secondary schools. The
second, in January <strong>1961</strong>, was confined to public higher education. 4
The present report returns to the subject of the first: denial of equal
protection in public elementary and secondary schools.
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