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

forbidden? Second, what are the attributes of nondiscriminatory operation
of a public school system? Third, how can nondiscriminatory operation
of a public school system be achieved under the rules enumerated by
the Court?
Unlawful discrimination in public schools
The School Segregation Cases establish the proposition that enforced
assignment of pupils to public schools on the basis of race is constitutionally
forbidden. But what of segregation that results not from the
operation of a dual school system, but from a gerrymander of school
attendance zones or from the selection of a site for a new school for
the purpose of causing or perpetuating segregation of the races?
The discrimination presented in the School Segregation Cases related
to Negroes. The rule applies equally to other minority groups such
as Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, and American Indians. What
classification of pupils other than by minority-group status would be
considered arbitrary and, therefore, discriminatory? Is classification
by the amount of education or the social or economic position of a
child's parents permissible? To what extent can any factors that do
not relate directly to education or the educational process be the basis
for classifying schools or pupils without offending constitutional
principles?
All of the school boards before the Supreme Court in the School
Segregation Cases operated public school systems supported entirely
with public funds. But must a school be entirely owned and operated
by a public agency and supported with public funds to be subject to
the constitutional rule of nondiscrimination? In the Girard College
case sole control of the school by public officials without ownership or
financial support brought the school under the I4th amendment. The
Supreme Court said in the Little Rock case that the rule "forbids States
to use their governmental powers to bar children on racial grounds from
attending schools where there is State participation through any arrangement,
management, funds, or property." But what do these
words mean in application?
Complete control alone was sufficient to bring the school within the
scope of the rule in the Girard College case. How much less than complete
control or what combination of some control and some financial
support would bring the same results? If a State or its agency grants
a school a license to operate, or approves a private school as satisfying
compulsory school attendance laws, is there sufficient State participation
to bring the school within the constitutional ban? If there is no
public control, is a privately owned and operated school subject to the
constitutional ban solely by reason of indirect public support?—by tuition
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