Hyndman Addresses Remaining Promises and Challenges of Brown Decision

Dr. Arnold G. Hyndman, president of the state Board of Education, and professor and dean for Livingston College at Rutgers University, spoke to members of the Urban Boards Committee on May 7 in Piscataway about the promises and challenges that the Brown decision holds for African-Americans.

Hyndman pointed out that the Brown victory focused on education and ended three centuries of a culture that considered the white American superior. “Equal opportunity is an important American value, and the promise in that spring of 1954 was that this case would usher in a fair and united society in this country,” he said. “The Brown decision, however, did not change things immediately. There was a backlash of defiance, and then courage and determination set in. What was not predicted was the degree of white flight, so that segregation continued, based on geography, ethnicity and income.”

Dr. Arnold G. Hyndman, president of the state Board of Education, speaks to members of the NJSBA Urban Boards Committee last Friday in Piscataway about the promises and challenges of the Brown decision.

Citing New Jersey as 90 percent urban, right behind California, which is 93 percent urban, he explained that a metropolitan area includes the population within a 60-to-70 mile radius around the city. “Today, when you mention urban education,” he said, “the first thought that comes to people’s minds is not education in the cities—it is education for students of color. With 113 people per square mile in New Jersey, though, urban education is everyone’s education.”

He went on to say that the promises of Brown and the No Child left Behind Act say important things about America, by insisting that no child should be excluded from a quality education and every child should be expected to achieve excellence. With the declaration, “it’s not about the money,” he contrasted the graduation and dropout rates for some urban districts as well as the cost per pupil for those districts. There were clearly some differences and he urged the board members present to find out what they can do to make the Brown promise a reality in New Jersey.

After listing several commonalities of high performing districts, such as clear and specific goals for what children will learn at each grade level, an intense high school curriculum, and a placement of effective teachers where they are needed most, he closed his address with these words: “Integration is a difficult thing to deal with. The Brown decision said that it should happen with all deliberate speed. It took the country 100 years to get rid of slavery, so we obviously have trouble with the term, ‘all deliberate speed.’ However, education is a start. It is possible. Take a look at the vocational schools. They are very successful and they are a good example of students of all colors studying and working together. Brown may be 50 years old, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Remember, the children of New Jersey are counting on you.”

—By Pamela Coumbe, Writer, New Jersey School Boards Association

Photo by Pamela Coumbe