AFT celebrates 70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

(American Federation of Teachers) – The Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, was a decision that ended the legal basis for discriminatory “separate but equal” schooling. Related Stories Seventy years after Brown v. Board, we are still striving toward the promise of opportunity for every child, regardless of race. That requires – as this decision seven decades ago made clear – equity in education, to ensure the freedom to thrive, the freedom not simply to dream but to achieve those dreams. While we’ve made great strides, sadly Black and Brown children are still disproportionately subjected to unequal treatment: They are taught in aging school buildings still laced with lead and mold and are subjected to harsher discipline, all while having their history censored from books in their often already depleted libraries. Book banning, culture wars and vouchers that increase segregation and drain public dollars away from the public schools that 90% of children attend, not only cause but exacerbate these issues. Now, more than ever, the American Federation of Teachers affirms our belief in moving our values into action – doing difficult work to make our schools and communities better. In the 1950s, the AFT was the...