Bishops' official calls for recommitment to just educational system

Published: 2004-05-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- On the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation ruling, the U.S. Catholic bishops' education secretary said the Supreme Court decision should "renew our commitment to a just educational system." "Without the Brown decision, it is hard to imagine any serious efforts to improve education for all children in the United States," said Dominican Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, education secretary for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a May 17 statement. She noted that the ruling, with its declaration that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," represented what was a "long-overdue victory" at the time and also shows "how far our nation has come" in the 50 years since it was issued. She said the May 17, 1954, decision -- which said that segregation had no valid purpose and was also unconstitutional -- "benefits all American children, regardless of race."

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .