Cynthia L. Johnson, Prince Edward County High School English Teacher

When considering the questions, "Are our schools better off today? Where do we go from here?" my initial thought was "better off in what way?" When I look at schools as they relate to structures/buildings, resources, personnel, support systems/role models, parental involvement, and equity in education, my answer to the first question must be both "yes" and "no." The structures or buildings in which schools are housed are definitely better now than in 1954. We have more resources in the form of books and technology, and our teaching staff is definitely more highly trained today.

On the other hand, support systems in schools, as they relate to minority students, are almost non-existent -- whereas, before 1954, minority students were almost always taught by minority teachers who served as support systems and role models.

Also, parents or extended family members were more involved in their children's education, helping with homework, attending parent-teacher conferences, and being a part of the students' support systems.

Even though Brown was an invaluable contribution to the struggle for racial equality, as it related to education, our schools today still remain racially segregated to a high degree. All we need to do is look into our gifted classrooms and our special-education classrooms to see that there is no equity in our education system.

There is a declining graduation rate, and the achievement gap between white and minority students is, once again, increasing. So, there is still a lot for all of us to do.

Andrew Heidelberg, One of the 17 students who integrated Norfolk's public schools

Comparing the integrated schools of today with the segregated schools of yesterday, I render a B+ for yesterday and a Cfor today.

Black people had the most caring teachers whose primary function was to educate and nurture the next generation of young children -- and that definitely is not the case today. Even if it is to some extent, it can't measure up to the "old school" days. The added, positive caveat missing today, too, is the tool of corporal punishment in elementary schools. While every black student of yesterday did not always make a passing grade, the percentage of failing students in all-black schools -- I would wager -- was small enough, percentage-wise, that it made yesterday's generation the real "almost no child left behind" generation.

However, we now need to address the ability, quality, and care offered by the current and future crop of educators/teachers -- if we want to reverse the current trend of rising dropout rates concomitant with an unacceptable and discouraging achievement gap between the races. The elimination of corporal punishment in primary schools by mostly non-white administrators and educators during the integrated school years has had a deleterious effect on teachers' ability to instruct their students and govern their classrooms. I would further wager that the drop in corporal punishment is directly proportional to the vast increase in the schools' disciplinary problems evidenced today. "Old school" was good school.

Rita Moseley Prince Edward County student when the public schools closed in 1959

Are our schools better off today? Yes and no. It depends on the region in which you live. For the Prince Edward County School System, I believe the "yes" far outweighs the "no." Our schools have improved tremendously.

The students of different races get along extremely well. The school system has many programs all students can take advantage of, and many are offered throughout the year, such as after-school programs in core subjects and Advanced Placement classes for college credit. Courses that were only offered in high school are now being taught in our middle schools -- such as Algebra, Latin, French, and German.

Our high school students are given the opportunity to take college classes that aid them when they graduate, and participate in a rising scholars program to prepare middle school students for high school.

There would be a greater improvement if parents become more interested in their children's education and work closer with teachers.

Where do we go from here?

Hire qualified teachers willing to invest long-term in the school system. This will give students more stability in knowing that they will have the support of the same teacher throughout their school years.

I also feel putting prayer back in the school would lead to better behavior and an improved understanding among students of how to treat others.

Kim Farrar, Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Administration

In the 1970s I started school in Richmond -- first attending Norrell Elementary and later going to Binford Middle schools in the city, before moving to Brookland Middle and Henrico High schools in Henrico. My experience through the '70s and '80s was very different than what my parents and grandparents experienced under formal segregation. Though the schools I attended were "integrated" there was a general feeling of resistance that replaced the institutionalized resistance of the 1950s and '60s.

During my day, those who did not want to participate in integration moved to the counties seeking to avoid as much culture shock as possible. As a school teacher, my mother believed that resources allocated to schools would follow "white flight" and once again blacks and non-affluent whites would be left attending "second-class" schools, in terms of facilities, instructional materials, etc. Because my parents did not want their children left behind, my family relocated to Henrico.

What I experienced in the "integrated" schools I attended is that Norrell Elementary and Binford Middle schools had a much more homogeneous community of black students, while Brookland Middle and Henrico High schools had the opposite composition of primarily white students. While I don't always relish saying that my mother was right, it appears that she was. Her prediction came true in my personal experience and, though there are always exceptions, it appears that her prediction remains true. Are our schools better today? I believe they are, based on some measures. However, in ways the that matter most to me -- offering an excellent education to all students regardless of class, race, or jurisdiction and producing excellent outcomes across the board -- our hard-working teachers pass and the educational system itself needs much improvement.

Carol A.O. Wolf, Member, Richmond School Board

After he went blind, my friend and mentor Oliver W. Hill let me be one of his "readers." Several times we read Richard Kluger's 798-page Simple Justice, a history of Brown vs. Board of Education.

When he asked me to read the book a third or fourth time, I asked, "Why?" "Because we are not finished yet," he said. "We've barely begun." "And," he added, "do not ever engage in a discussion of the re-segregation of Richmond's schools they've never been de-segregated."

Mr. Hill often noted that while the unanimous decision in Brown opened the front door of the schoolhouse for blacks, the 5-4 decision in Milliken -- which made cross-jurisdictional busing very difficult -- opened the back door for white flight. Justice Thurgood Marshall's dissent noted that poor Negro children would continue to receive "the same inherently unequal education in the future as they have been unconstitutionally afforded in the past." "In the short run," wrote Marshall, "it may seem to be the easier course to allow our great metropolitan areas to be divided up each into cities -- one white, the other black -- but it is a course, I predict, our people will ultimately regret."

Notwithstanding his always cordial demeanor with Lewis Powell, the swing vote in Milliken, Mr. Hill observed that Powell did nothing to integrate Richmond's schools. When Powell stepped down as Richmond's School Board chairman in 1961, "precisely two black children" attended the city's public school with white students.

Richmond still suffers the effects of Milliken. The schools are not integrated, and more African-American males go to prison than to college. Despite real progress, we still have a shameful graduation rate, an abysmal dropout rate, and sky-rocketing suspension rates. We also have near total non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, thus denying "simple access" to our most vulnerable citizens.

Where do we go from here?

Before enacting NCLB sanctions and dismantling public education, we should revisit Milliken and consider what our nation might be like today had that decision gone the other way. Let us find a way to recapture that missed opportunity for equality.

We can begin by re-reading Simple Justice. As Mr. Hill said: "We are not finished yet. We've barely begun."