Which principle did Brown v. Board declare about segregation in public education?

• A. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal; ended de jure segregation in public schools.
• B. Segregation in education is permissible if facilities are equal.
• C. The Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in all contexts.
• D. Education policy is exclusively a state matter.

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that state-imposed racial segregation in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause because separate facilities are inherently unequal. Brown v. Board of Education held that the doctrine of “separate but equal” cannot apply to public education, since keeping students in racially separated schools denies Black students equal protection and creates an inherently inferior status. This decision marked a rejection of Plessy v. Ferguson’s standard in the education context and paved the way for desegregation, at least in principle, through a federal constitutional constraint on state actions.

It’s important to note that this ruling targets state action in education and does not claim that education policy is purely a state matter. The federal Constitution provides the framework that prevents states from enforcing segregation in public schools. Also, Brown focused on public education rather than declaring Plessy overturned in every context; later cases addressed other contexts separately.