Can public education provide equal protection to all students under Brown v. Board of Education while implementing ability grouping? Does classification of students between vocational, main stream, or college and career educational pursuits based on academic tracking contribute to segregation within the walls of the public school? By examining equal protection under the law, the reasoning behind classification, and other legal issues pertaining to ability grouping/tracking one can perceive a new form of segregation emerging within the public school. In 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court initially ruled the constitutionality of racially separate public schools permissible as long as the facilities were otherwise equivalent. Eventually Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy v. Ferguson by invoking the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment deeming “separate yet equal unconstitutional (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954). The Supreme Court declared that children were deprived equal protection of the law because back students where not treated in like manner and under similar …show more content…
The advantage of grouping pupils allows teachers to present material to students of equalint ability or aptitude within one class setting. Also, grouping allows students to progress at the own speed. Therefor when ability grouping policies were implemented a form of segregation emerged as minorities and English language defiance students were being eliminated from Honor and Advance placement classes. Therefor a similar form of segregation occurred like Plessy v. Ferguson where students were allowed to be segregated yet the classes where not equal. How could this occurred if Brown v. Board of Education ruled against such