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Rogers v. Paul

In Rogers v. Paul (1965), the U.S. Supreme Court essentially overturned the gradual “one grade per year” desegregation plan that it had permitted in an earlier case from Arkansas, Cooper v. Aaron (1958). In Rogers, the Court rejected a school board's clear attempt to exclude students from a broader curriculum based solely on race. In looking at the passage of time since Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the Court also demonstrated its impatience with the school board's unacceptably slow movement to converting the system to unitary status.

Facts of the Case

At issue in Rogers was the constitutionality of a “grade-per-year” desegregation plan. The plan that a local board in Arkansas adopted in 1957 called for desegregating its school system one grade per year. Yet the 10th through 12th grades were still segregated. Moreover, African American students in the segregated schools were not allowed to take courses that were available only at the high school for White students.

After the African American students and their parents filed a class action suit against the board, they unsuccessfully challenged the fact that the plan did not grant them access to equal educational opportunities. The Eighth Circuit affirmed that the plan was properly set in place. On further review in Rogers, a unanimous Supreme Court, in abrief per curiam opinion, vacated and remanded in favor of the plaintiffs.

The Court's Ruling

In its analysis, the Supreme Court held that the assignment of students to the African American high school on the basis of their race was constitutionally impermissible pursuant to the precedent that it set in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954). To this end, the Court was of the opinion that the African American students were entitled to relief in the form of being able to transfer out of their high schools immediately so they could avail themselves of the more extensive curriculum at the high school for Whites.

At the same time, the Supreme Court stressed that delays in desegregating the school system were no longer tolerable. The Court noted that more than 10 years had passed since its order calling for the desegregation of public schools. The Court also found that petitioners had standing to challenge the constitutionality of the allocation of faculty on a racial basis, as a separate issue, due to the impact that this could have on the potential denial of equal educational opportunities. However, insofar as this issue was not at bar, the Court vacated and remanded for further consideration on this point.

  • black students
  • Supreme Court
DeborahCurry
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963916.n316
See also

Legal Citations

HunterR. C, and DonahooS.The implementation of Brown in achieving unitary status.Education and Urban Society36 (2004). 342–354. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013124504264177
RussoC. J., HarrisJ. J.III, and SandridgeR. F.Brown v. Board of Education at 40: A legal history of equal educational opportunities in American public education.Journal of Negro Education63 (1994). 297–309. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2967182

Legal Citations

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka I, 341 U.S. 483 (1954).
Brown v.

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