[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12637]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY AND THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE HISTORIC 
        SUPREME COURT CASE, BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATON OF TOPEKA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 14, 2009

  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the fifty-fifth 
anniversary and the lasting legacy of the historic Supreme Court Case, 
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the 
Warren Court's unanimous decision stated that ``separate educational 
facilities are inherently unequal.'' As a result, de jure racial 
segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 
Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
  The case overturned earlier rulings going back to Plessy v. Ferguson 
in 1896 by declaring that state laws that established separate public 
schools for black and white students denied black children equal 
educational opportunities. This victory paved the way for integration 
and the civil rights movement.
  Despite this historic victory, over half a century later, we still 
find huge disparities in the education and opportunities our children 
are provided at different schools. There have been some advances. 
Notably, the U.S. Supreme Court ushered in a new chapter in education 
with its 1974 unanimous decision in Lau v. Nichols, which enumerated 
the educational rights of English language learners and established 
that education is a civil right. The court ruled that simply providing 
all students with equal facilities, books, teachers, and curriculum was 
not sufficient to guarantee that all students had equal access to a 
quality education. Sadly, today we are still not fully providing equity 
in our schools.
  Education is at the very center of our democratic meritocracy, and it 
is imperative that every American child be afforded a true opportunity 
to achieve their highest potential. To reach this ideal, we must 
establish an education system focused on each child's needs, providing 
the support they need and wisely funded. We need equity in the 
education system, wherein resources are allocated based on need, not 
the current parity-based funding formula that fails to address the 
needs of each child.
  Establishing a system that provides funding according to the needs of 
each child will get us closer to achieving equity. An equitable, need-
based system will provide teachers with insight into the educational 
needs of each student in their classroom. Equitable funding will direct 
funds based on the needs of each student. Equitable funding will 
provide the resources to ensure each student will achieve individual 
success.
  I have re-introduced the Educational Opportunity and Equity 
Commission Act, H.R. 1758, to begin the process of overhauling the 
country's education system and to finally address the disparities among 
America's schools. This legislation creates a national commission 
charged with gathering public opinions and insights about how 
government can improve education and eliminate disparities in the 
education system. Importantly, the Commission's composition would 
change the nature of the debate because it will be comprised of 
parents, teachers and experts on equity, civil rights, education 
policy, school finance, economics, and taxation. All users and 
beneficiaries of America's education system will work together from the 
ground up to develop a school reform road map.
  As we mark the fifty-fifth anniversary of Brown v. Board of 
Education, we celebrate the advances we have made and re-affirm our 
commitment to provide a world-class education to each American child. 
We must ensure sufficient funding to provide a 21st century education 
to every child based on the child's individual needs, not categorical 
averages. I hope you will join me in challenging our leaders to fulfill 
on their obligation to advance the learning of every child.

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