Is separate always unequal? A philosophical examination of ideas of equality in key cases regarding racial and linguistic minorities in education

Thompson, K.D. (2013). Is separate always unequal? A philosophical examination of ideas of equality in key cases regarding racial and linguistic minorities in education. Review of Educational Research, 50(6), pp. 1249-1278.


This review takes a thorough, historically rooted look at the seeming paradox surrounding the ways we look at the idea of equality in the U.S. educational system. Specifically, how do we reconcile the idea of equality that calls for everyone to be treated the same, and the idea of equality that calls for differential treatment for some groups to help them reach equal status? Both ideas of equality have been hard-fought-for; the battles for desegregation that led to the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling in 1954 that separate education could never be equal education, and the 1970s battles to provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of disabled learners as well as linguistic minority learners, all are well-documented. In both kinds of battles, emotions have run high, and people have made sacrifices. The two ideas of equality seem contradictory, but they share a common root: a passion for providing all students with optimum opportunities to learn.

Thompson takes us on a journey through the history of these two ideas of equality in the U.S., and it is a journey I highly recommend for all educators. Thompson tells the story of the journey in a scholarly but accessible way that had me riveted as a reader. For me, it was a good reminder of where we have been when it comes to issues of equality, as well as a projection about where we may be going on those issues.

Thompson highlights four landmark court cases whose rulings shaped the way we look at equality in U.S. schools. First, she reviews the well-known landmark case, Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), which established that separate education was “inherently unequal.” The next case is Lau vs. Nichols, a 1973 case that established the right of linguistic minority students to education programs designed specifically for them. The ruling on the second case seemed to conflict at times with the ruling on the first case, because providing specialized education to meet the needs of linguistic minority students often led to programs that seemed to be segregated programs. Thompson discusses a third case, Castaneda vs. Pickard (1981), which established that while students could not be treated differentially on the basis of race or national origin, differential education could be based on language proficiency. This added complexity to the issues surrounding ideas of equality. In Castaneda vs. Pickard, a big issue was the quality of bilingual programs provided to linguistic minority students (in this case, students whose home language was Spanish). The ruling asserted that desegregation was of primary importance (negative equality) but that it also was important to treat students with different needs differentially (positive equality). A third aspect of the ruling represented a compromise: the goal of differential programs should be to integrate students into “mainstream” programs as soon as possible.

The story of how ideas of equality are understood in U.S. education is ongoing; we don’t know what the next chapter will be. Thompson describes a fourth and ongoing case, Horne vs. Flores, which is looking at whether the state of Arizona provides adequate funding for programs for English Learners. Establishing what funding is adequate, and whether that funding is being provided, are issues at the core of the current debate, and indeed, funding seems to be a central issue in today’s equality cases. With the ongoing economic problems in the U.S., it can be difficult to determine that a state or a school district is funding special programs inadequately, when funding is a problem in general and many programs are being cut.

Thompson concludes with a point that sadly, I anticipated as I progressed through the article: the journey toward equality is not finished yet, and there is still inequality and linguistic isolation in the U.S. We haven’t yet accomplished what we need to accomplish to help all students learn, and we may even be stalled out or even regressing at times on our progress toward equal education. Thompson’s review should be required reading for educators as both a reminder and a challenge.