Inherently Unequal - 50 Years Later

"INHERENTLY UNEQUAL" - 50 Years Later
By Tonia Ferguson, Director of Education & Legal Advocacy

The Supreme Court ruling that ended school segregation is still a driven story 50 years later. A Sun reporter, Reginald Fields recalls the story. On May 17, 1954, Baltimore was a blue-collar town with the Jim Crow laws and traditions of Dixie. Whites and blacks labored together in the city's mills and shipyards, but segregation affected nearly every other aspect of their lives. Black people could not get a room at the inn. They could not eat at one of the White Coffee Pot restaurants around town or watch a film at the Hippodrome.

On this May date, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Brown vs. Board of Education that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The Baltimore School board quickly announced that it would comply with the ruling, ending one of the city's most fundamental forms of segregation. While Brown specifically swept away laws that denied rights to black school children; its triumph was about much more. The decision, based on the Fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution - the right to equal protection - provided an opportunity for disability rights activists to argue that the segregation of children and students with disabilities was also illegal.

Fifty years later parents of children and youth with disabilities are still asserting that separate facilities are inherently unequal. Families of children with disabilities across all income levels have difficulty finding high quality, appropriate child care and after school care for their children. This difficulty can be due to many factors, including blatant discrimination; resources and staffing sufficiency concerns; provider concerns about their capacity to care for children with disabilities, particularly children with emotional or behavioral needs; inadequate provider training; and the inability of parents to afford high-quality child care, even when it is available.

By listening and working with families, The Arc has heard a consistent theme that families are unable to find full-time daycare or after-school care. One-parent states, "Child care for my child is a nightmare! There needs to be more options for parents like myself." Another parent describes her search as an experience similar to being on a roller coaster. For her the ride was often a devastating experience she never knew when she would get off of it. Families want to work and support their children, but when there is no one to take on the responsibility for these children during those hours, the parents are left to make ends meet on only one income. This leaves families with very limited options.

One option families have is Legislative Advocacy, and families turned to The Arc of Maryland to help them. As one of the lead agencies, The Arc of Maryland collaborated with the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council and drafted legislation to establish a Task Force on Inclusive Child and After-School Care to examine ways to dismantle barriers to community child and after-school care for children and youth with disabilities. Support from the Governor's Office for Individuals with Disabilities and the Maryland Child Care Administration negated the need for legislation. The Governor's Office for Individuals with Disabilities and the Maryland Child Care Administration are now co-chairing the Task Force on Inclusive Child and After -School to examine the issue and make recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly. Among other things, the Task Force will convene regional public forums to gather information and feedback from families, child care providers, disability organizations, local policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders regarding access to community based child and after-school care for children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs.

As this process moves forward, parents, child care providers, child and disability-rights advocates, and State agencies want to make access to high-quality child care and after school care a reality for Maryland's children. When children with special needs are included in child care, all children discover that each is unique and special. Inclusive child care and after school care removes the boundaries of segregation-every child becomes part of the group regardless of abilities.

The unresolved issue of equal opportunity 50 years after Brown remains Maryland's and the nation's problem. The challenge is clear. The Brown anniversary reminds us that ALL children deserve a chance to learn together, have fun together, and reach their full potential together-Our world of opportunity exists for ALL CHILDREN.

To get involved, please contact Tonia Ferguson, Director of Education & Legal Advocacy at The Arc of Maryland.

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