[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 69 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN V. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

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                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 17, 2004

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago today, in the landmark Brown v. 
the Board of Education, Chief Justice Warren declared, unanimously, 
that ``in the field of public education, the doctrine of `separate but 
equal' has no place.'' Separate educational facilities are inherently 
unequal. The Brown decision promised that every child, regardless of 
the color of his or her skin, would have unequivocal access to quality 
education and an equal opportunity to pursue his/her dreams. Since that 
moment, our society has evolved to the point where the idea of 
intentionally separating students on the basis of on the color of their 
skin in the United States of America is appalling. However, while we 
should certainly celebrate the demise of overt official racism, we must 
also critically examine where we are at this historical moment, 
recognize the many challenges ahead and reaffirm our commitment to 
making Brown v. Board a reality.
  In Massachusetts we tend to think about segregation and racial 
disparity as a southern phenomenon, alien to our abolitionist New 
England roots. But a recent study released by the Civil Rights Project 
at Harvard University found that the Metro-Boston area still remains a 
widely segregated society. In fact, 70 percent of white students attend 
suburban schools that are over 90 percent white, while more than 75 
percent of black and Latino students attend schools in the inner city 
or in one of the urbanized satellite cities. The segregated schools of 
today are arguably no more equal than the segregated schools of the 
past. Students who attend high minority and high poverty schools are 
far less likely to graduate on time, be taught by a ``highly qualified 
teacher'' and apply to college, and are far more likely to drop out of 
school, score poorly on the SATs, and fail the MCAS.
  I am proud of what has happened in my hometown, where Mayor Howard 
seized an opportunity to modernize the entire school system so that 
everybody in this diverse working-class community feels that people 
care about the education of Malden's children, regardless of race or 
income. Unfortunately, this is the exception, not the rule. Efforts at 
the national level to support such initiatives have been very uneven. 
The No Child Left Behind NCLB Act set lofty goals but is failing to 
provide the funding and the assistance needed to achieve those goals. 
President Bush's budget for next year failed to provide $9.4 billion of 
promised money to K-12 education, $7.2 billion of which was intended to 
help schools educate our country's most impoverished children. In order 
for our schools to make ``adequate yearly progress,'' the President 
needs to provide ``adequate yearly funding.'' Almost every day, I get 
calls from constituents, and communicate with teachers about the many 
problems with implementing standards without financial support.
  Our work is clearly not done and there is too much at stake to leave 
the work unfinished. Education is not only a ladder of opportunity, but 
it is also an investment in our future. Our nation's security, economy, 
and place on the world stage depends on the success our educational 
system. Although children are only 24 percent of the population, 
they're 100 percent of our future and we cannot afford to provide any 
child with a substandard education.

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